Moments In Love
by DaylightFadingStars
Summary: The aftermath of the ball and all its events. A new character enters the picture just to complicate things even more for Avery. Rated T for some language.
1. Ready, Aim, Misfire

**A/N:** Yes, folks, I am back. Hopefully this chappie isn't too boring... kinda laying the groundwork for future chapters... you know how that is. Italicised(sp?) portions are dream sequences. Please Review!!

**Disclaimer:** I only own original characters.

_Inspiration for this chappie..._

**_Ready, Aim, Misfire by New Year's Day_**

Get out of the car, and don't try and stop me  
Stay where you are, 'cause there you can't hurt me  
You took things too far, and I don't deserve this

You said that you'd be, you'd always be honest  
And mean what you say, but you broke every promise  
That you ever made, and I don't deserve this

If I had just one bullet, and a trigger I'd pull it  
Shoot my cupid out of the sky  
Break off his wings, and gouge out his eyes  
And thank him for nothing, 'cause that's all that he gave to me  
Your love is my heart disease

Don't try and call, I'm not going to answer  
I'm not going to fall for another disaster  
That you put me through, and I don't deserve this  
No I don't deserve this.

If I had just one bullet, and a trigger I'd pull it  
Shoot my cupid out of the sky  
Break off his wings and gouge out his eyes  
And thank him for nothing, 'cause that's all that he gave to me  
Your love is my heart disease  
Shoot my cupid out of the sky  
Break off his wings and gouge out his eyes  
And thank him for nothing, 'cause that's all that he gave to me  
Your love is my heart disease

I don't care anymore  
About You.  
Because without you I'm better off.

Shoot my cupid out of the sky  
Break off his wings and gouge out his eyes  
And thank him for nothing, 'cause that's all that he gave to me  
Your love is my heart disease  
Shoot my cupid out of the sky  
Break off his wings and ask him just why  
He played such a sick joke on the fool that is me  
And curse me with this sickness  
Your love is my heart disease.

* * *

Avery walked into one of the local Starbucks and stood in line to get her usual Double Chocolaty Chip Frappuccino. She looked around the semi-empty coffee shop and took a deep breath. She walked up to the cashier and smiled.

"What can I get you?" the thin brunette girl asked.

"Venti Double Chocolaty Chip Frappuccino... and..." She grabbed two chocolate hazelnut biscotti and set them on the counter. "Nothing better than chocolate to help mend a broken heart." Avery thought to herself as the girl totaled up the order and Avery handed over the cash. The girl grabbed a cup and a Sharpie and looked at Avery.

"Your name?"

"Avery." Avery walked away while opening one of the double baked cookies. She took a bite as she stood against one of the walls by the counter. She heard her cellphone ringtone of _My Friends Over You_ from her inside her jeans pocket and she jumped a little. She grabbed it and looked at the screen which showed a picture of she and Nicki. She smiled as she opened her phone and put it to her ear. "'Lo."

"Where are you?" Nicki asked.

"Um, Starbucks."

"Which one? There are three of them in town."

"The one across the street from the pharmacy. Why?"

"We just got back and you weren't here. You want some company?" Avery laughed softly.

"I'm not fragile Nic. I'm not going to break."

"Yeah, I know that, but still, I would be a shite friend if I didn't offer my company right now." Avery could hear the smile on Nicki's face.

"Alright. Come keep me company."

"I'll be there in a few. Don't drink that frap too quickly."

"And how do you know that's what I got?" Avery raised an eyebrow as she smirked.

"Because we have been best friends for six years and there isn't much that I don't know about you Ave. See ya in a bit." Avery closed her phone and slipped it back into her pocket as a warm smile spread across her face.

"Avery," a barista called out from behind the counter. She walked over and grabbed the icy drink and a straw from the counter. She turned and saw an oversized chair vacant and she smiled. As she walked over, her phone began vibrating in her pocket. She grabbed it and furrowed her eyebrows at the screen. She opened it.

"'Lo?"

"Um... hi. Is this Avery?" a male voice drifted from the earpiece.

"Yeah, who is this?"

"Braedon Gilbert. I met you last night." She smiled brightly.

"Oh yeah. How are you?"

"I'm doing fine. I didn't catch you at a bad time, did I?"

"No, just sitting down to enjoy some Starbucks." She sat in the comfortable chair and set her drink on the small table beside her. She took a deep breath as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Braedon's grey eyes looking down at her with a smile on his face. She smiled brightly. "What are you doing here?" She closed her phone and slipped it into her pocket.

"Uh, my aunt is here. Visiting her and some other family for the holidays." She looked at the chair next to her.

"Wanna join me?" He resisted the strong urge he had touched her cheek.

"Sure." He slipped his phone in his pocket and sat next to her.

"So, do you live in Boston?"

"No. I actually live on Martha's Vineyard. I go to school in Boston."

"Where do you go?"

"Sophomore at BU."

"Oh, you're in college?"

"Yeah. You live here?"

"Yes and no." He furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head a little with a small smile. "I go to school here at Spenser. I live in Boston."

"Where are you planning on going after Spenser?"

"Duke or NYU." Avery looked up as she saw Nicki walk into the building. She smiled softly as the dark-haired girl walked up with a smile on her face.

"Am I interrupting something?" Nicki asked. Braedon stood up and smiled.

"Not at all. Nicolette Emerson, this is Braedon Gilbert. He's the guy I met at the ball on Saturday." They shook hands.

"You can call me Nicki or Nic... everyone does," Nicki said as she dropped his hand from hers. She sat at the small table across from the two chairs as Braedon reclaimed his chair. "You live here in Ipswich?"

"No, visiting family for the holidays." Nicki looked at Avery.

"What a coincidence. How long are you here for?"

"Couple of weeks." Nicki furrowed her eyebrows as she looked into his grey eyes.

"I can't escape the feeling that I know you..."

"Maybe from the ball?"

"No..." She squinted and shook her head slightly. "Well, I'm sure it'll come to me eventually." She got up and grabbed her wallet from her bag. "I'll be back." She walked away. Braedon's eyes followed Nicki as she walked to the counter.

"Something wrong?" Avery asked as she took a bite of her cookie.

"No. Not at all." His eyes shifted to Avery and he smiled. The ringtone of _On My Mind_ started playing and Avery sighed. She grabbed her phone from her pocket and looked at the screen. A picture of her and Reid stared back at her. She slipped the phone back into her pocket as Nicki walked back over. Nicki sat down and stuck her straw in her Vanilla Bean Blended Crème.

"How was the drive back into town?" Avery asked as Nicki sipped her drink.

"Fine... quiet." Avery raised an eyebrow.

"How's that?"

"There wasn't much to say after last night. Ty's still pissed at Reid and I didn't really have a hell of a lot to say. Lots of listening to the radio." Avery smiled as she took a bite of her cookie. "So I take it you decided not to take Reid back?"

"You take it right." She grabbed her drink and looked at Nicki.

"Did he explain why things happened like they did?"

"Yeah, but how can I trust him again after doing something like that? I would be wondering if every girl he happens to glance at is someone that he is sleeping with behind my back."

"Don't you believe people can change?"

"Yeah, I do. I just don't believe _he's_ ready to change. He doesn't need a girl like me. He needs one that will turn a blind eye to his fucking around. I can't do that. I want all of him, not half of him while he shares the other part with someone else."

"I can understand that, I guess, but... Ave, you have never been happier than when you were with him, doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Yeah. It means a lot, but so does my self respect Nic." She sipped her drink and set it down again. "Not to mention, do you honestly think that after one conversation with him that I am going to fall back into his arms? Please, _if_ he is going to get me back, he's sure as hell going to work for it. I'm not that easy Nic." Nicki laughed.

"Yeah, I know. You don't ever take things lightly."

"Nope, never. Besides, what's to say that someone else may not come along that might tickle my fancy?" Nicki sipped her drink as the two girls looked at Braedon. His eyes shifted from one girl to another as a smile appeared on his face.

* * *

_Avery walked into a large ballroom and smiled at the masked couples dancing to the soft classical music that seemed to float on the air. She caught sight of herself in a floor-length window as she made her way down the long staircase. She felt the satin ribbons of her mask fluttering across the back of her neck as her feet hit one black carpeted step after another. Her heels clicked on the marble floor as they left the final step and she smiled. A man in a black tuxedo with a royal blue bow-tie and cummerbund walked up to her slowly and smiled. He held out his hand to her._

"_May I have this dance?" he asked softly. She smiled as she nodded. She placed her black lace gloved hand in his and they walked out to the dancefloor. One of his arms slid around her waist while the other took her hand in his. He smiled as they began to dance along with the other couples. Avery smiled as her feet glided across the marble floor. She looked at her dance partner and he smiled softly._

"_Who are you?" she asked softly as they stopped dancing in the middle of the floor. As he leaned toward her to kiss her, red and white rose petals began falling from the ceiling. She looked up and smiled as the soft petals fell over her cheeks. She heard a soft chuckle come from the man and she looked at him. He gently kissed her lips and she felt her knees getting weak._

"_Ave!!" she heard and she looked around._

"AVERY!!" Nicki yelled a second time. Avery slowly opened her eyes and frowned as she groaned softly.

"What time is it?"

"Six-thirty. Your alarm went off like a half hour ago. You slept right through it." Avery sat up and ran her fingers through her light-brown hair.

"I had the strangest dream." Nicki slipped her feet into her navy blue knee socks and looked over at Avery as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed.

"What happened?"

"Have you ever had one of those dreams where you were with a guy, but you never saw his face clearly or really knew who he was?" Nicki grabbed her penny loafers and nodded. "It was one of those. There was this guy and we were at a masquerade ball. We were dancing and he went to kiss me, but before he could, all these rose petals fell from the ceiling. It was so romantic, Nic." Avery looked over at Nicki as she tied her tie. "And he kissed me. It was the most... I can't describe it, but your voice yelling cut right through it and I woke up." Nicki stopped and looked at her friend.

"Well, I have no explanation for that, but if you plan on taking a shower, you better go now." Avery sighed as she got up from her bed and slipped on her slippers. She grabbed her robe and shower caddy before walking out of the room. Nicki smiled to herself and grabbed her small collection of headbands. She picked a white lace one and slipped it over her head.

* * *

Avery sat in the dining hall picking at her breakfast of fruit and yogurt. She sighed as Kate walked up with Sarah in tow.

"Mind if we sit here?" she asked as she swung her long ponytail over her shoulder.

"Sure, go 'head," Avery breathed as she stabbed a piece of honeydew from the bowl on her tray. The two girls sat down and Kate put her head in her hand as she raised her brown eyes to Avery's form.

"So, spill. How was the ball?" Avery looked up slowly.

"It was beautiful. My dress was gorgeous, my mother rewrote my presentation statement to contain a bunch of crap, but all in all, everything was perfect until... I caught Reid messing around with another woman." Kate and Sarah gasped as they sat back in shock.

"You're kidding," Sarah said softly. Avery shook her head softly as Nicki walked up and sat next to her best friend.

"Sadly, no, I'm not kidding. I caught him and Kiana Weissman in a broom closet."

"Kiana Weissman?" Avery rolled her eyes.

"Kiana McEwan... Barbie," Nicki said as she poured the contents of her small Special K cereal box in the bowl that sat in front of her. Kate and Sarah laughed softly at the nickname thrown out with ease by Nicki.

"I'm surprised that the whole fiasco hasn't made the rounds around school yet," Avery said as she looked back down at her bowl of fruit.

"So, what are you going to do?" Kate asked as she opened her container of yogurt.

"Nothing." Kate raised a questioning eyebrow. "Reid and I talked yesterday morning and I couldn't bring myself to either accept his apology or take him back." Kate sighed deeply.

"I suppose that is the price you pay for dating someone with Reid's reputation," Sarah said as she looked to the doors. She smiled as Caleb appeared in the doorway with Pogue following closely behind him. Caleb's eyes scanned the large room quickly before settling on the beautiful blonde and her dark-eyed friend. He nudged Pogue's arm and pointed to the table full of girls. Avery looked up as the two boys quickly made their way to the table. Caleb bent down and gently kissed Sarah's cheek. She smiled and giggled softly as he whispered something in her ear before nodding in agreement. Pogue sat next to Kate and placed a soft kiss on her lips. He looked over at Nicki and Avery with a soft smile on his lips.

"Where's Reid and Tyler this morning?" he asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Nicki said as she set her spoon in her bowl. "I haven't seen or heard from either of them since last night when we got back." Nicki looked over at Avery.

"Um, I've got some things to take care of before classes, I'll see you guys later," Avery said as she got up and grabbed her bag. She slung it over her shoulder.

"Hey, wait up. I need to grab some stuff from my locker," Nicki said as she got up and grabbed her bag as well. She slung it over her shoulder and the two girls made a beeline out of the building. Pogue looked at Kate and frowned slightly.

"Was it something I said?" he asked innocently. Kate shook her head as she looked down at her container of yogurt.

"Um, Reid and Ave broke up last night." Caleb looked over.

"Didn't they _just_ start dating like a few days ago?" he asked as he stole a piece of fruit from Sarah's tray.

"Yeah, but um... Ave caught him in a compromising situation with the former Kiana McEwan at the ball." Pogue sighed.

"Why am I not surprised?" he asked softly to himself. He looked over at Caleb. "That explains why he's been avoiding us then." Caleb nodded in agreement.

* * *

Tyler stood in front of the bathroom mirror tying his tie. He saw Reid moving around in the reflection of the mirror and he turned slightly.

"Morning, Reid," he said softly.

"Morning. What time is it?"

"Uh... I think it's about seven."

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I thought after the night you had, I would let you sleep." Reid looked up and scratched his head.

"What do ya mean 'the night I had'?"

"You were tossing and turning all night long man. I thought a couple of times I heard you calling out..."

"Ave's name?"

"No, Kiana's." Reid sighed in frustration as he sat on his bed. Tyler turned off the bathroom light and walked into the room. "What's going on man?" Reid ran his fingers through his blonde hair and sighed again as Tyler sat across from him.

"I don't know. All I _do _know is I want is Ave back, but I guess Kiana has invaded my dreams." Tyler tossed a few books in his bag.

"What do you plan to do?"

"Whatever I have to. I want her back, Tyler."

"What if 'whatever' is something like... making out with another guy or some other such fuckery?" Reid laughed softly.

"Fuckery? What kind of word is that?" Tyler smiled.

"Eh, I knew that would make you smile. However, answer my question."

"I suppose I'll do whatever, _within reason_ to get her back." He smiled as Tyler grabbed his notebook and pen from his nightstand. "I have a week to come up with something good." Tyler furrowed his eyebrows as he looked over at Reid.

"How do you figure you have a week? School is in session until June, man."

"Yeah, but come Sunday morning, Ave is taking off for home for three weeks for the holidays."

"What difference does that make?"

"There's no telling what can happen in three weeks, who she can meet... I just want to know that I have my foot in the door again before she leaves is all." Tyler got up and grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair.

"You better hope she doesn't slam the door on your foot if you do get it in there." Tyler grinned as Reid flipped him the bird. "So, I guess you better get to thinking then, shouldn't you?" Tyler smiled as he slipped his jacket on and grabbed his bag. "See ya later, man." He walked out and Reid sighed as he laid back on his bed.

"Fuck...," he said softly to himself.

* * *

A/N: I actually have the ringtones mentioned in this chappie on my cellphone. :D I also thought it was time to bring in the other characters as more than just side convos. Again, please review!! I appreciate them all... really, I do! :)


	2. Roses

**A/N:** Thanks for the review on the last chapter. Again, I hope it wasn't too boring for all ya. Interesting things are planned for this fic... both good and bad. Please review again folks... I appreciate the feedback!

**Disclaimer:** I only own original characters.

* * *

Avery and Nicki hurried down one of the numerous large wood-paneled hallways of Spenser to her locker. All along the way, Avery prayed that she could avoid running into her newly minted _ex_-boyfriend. The girls stopped at Avery's locker and she took a deep breath as she took the combination lock in her hand. She slowly spun the numbered dial and a tear freely rolled from her eye to her chin.

"You okay, Ave?" Nicki asked as she saw the look on her friend's face. Avery looked over and smiled a little as she wiped the tear from her face.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." she said as she removed the lock from the metal latch on her locker and opened the door. White and red rose petals fell from her locker to her feet. She and Nicki looked down and smiled softly.

"What is all that?" Nicki asked as she bent down to pick up some of the petals.

"I have no idea. They weren't in here when I came by on Friday afternoon. And they aren't dead, so they couldn't have been here all weekend." Avery reached into her locker and gently swept a pile of petals from her books. She looked at Nicki. "These are just like in my dream."

"How the hell did they get in there?"

"I dunno." She smiled as she grabbed a few books and put them in her bag. Tyler walked up and smiled at Nicki. They kissed gently and he looked down at the rose petals in her hand.

"Where'd those come from?" he asked as he grabbed a handful of petals from the floor and examined them.

"No clue. They were in Ave's locker." Tyler raised an eyebrow and peered inside of the locker.

"Just petals? No stems or anything like that?" Avery looked over at him and smiled softly.

"No. Just the petals," Avery began as Tyler sighed softly. "Just like a dream I had last night."

"Anyone else have the combination to your lock?" Avery shook her head.

"No. No one except the guidance counselor, but he has the combinations to all the locks issued to the students and I highly doubt that a 50-something year old man would be trying to seduce me." Tyler looked at Nicki and smiled.

"When was the last time you came by here?"

"Friday afternoon before we all left for Boston."

"And they weren't there then?"

"Nope." Tyler cleared his throat and looked at Avery then at Nicki.

"I have to go do... something. I'll see you later?" Nicki nodded slowly.

"Sure. Is something wrong?" Nicki asked.

"No. Everything's fine." He kissed her gently and walked away.

"That didn't seem too weird or anything, right?" Avery asked as she closed her locker and replaced the lock on the latch. She spun the dial and they walked away.

* * *

Tyler found Reid standing in front of his locker talking to a red-headed girl. He rolled his eyes as he walked up to the two.

"Reid..." Tyler said softly. Reid looked at him and smiled.

"Ty... do you know Cassandra?" Tyler looked at the girl and frowned a little.

"No, um, I need to talk to you about something."

"Okay." Reid looked over at Cassandra. "I'll talk to you later." She smiled sweetly and walked away. He turned to face Tyler. "What's up?"

"Two things..."

"And they are?"

"First... why the fuck are you flirting with some girl if you want to get Ave back?"

"I wasn't flirting. She's in my Calc class. She's tutoring me." Tyler raised an eyebrow.

"Tutoring? Is that your new euphemism for having sex with you?"

"No, seriously, Ty. She's my tutor. My grade in Calc slipped a little this quarter and Mr. Deets asked her to tutor me to get it back up." Tyler sighed.

"Okay, I'll have to take your word for it."

"You look worried..."

"Have you been using?" Reid looked a little confused.

"No, why?" Tyler held his hand out and Reid looked at the rose petals laying there.

"Rose petals? I need more information than a handful of rose petals."

"Ave found these in her locker this morning." Reid shrugged.

"So why would you think it was me?"

"She hasn't been to her locker since Friday and they weren't there then."

"So? Someone else has the combination to her lock."

"The only one would be the guidance counselor. Are you sure this wasn't you?"

"Yeah, I'm positive. Why are you so worried about a bunch of rose petals?"

"Ave said something about it being like a dream she had and since I know how you love to invade her dreams... I just put two and two together and..."

"Jumped to the wrong fucking conclusion. None of this is me, Tyler. Was it you?" Tyler looked slightly offended.

"Yeah, Reid, because I would want to cheat on my girlfriend with her best friend. I'm just that type of guy," Tyler said with sarcasm dripping from his every word. Reid smirked.

"Then I guess you should talk to Caleb and Pogue."

"Why would..." Reid slammed his locker closed and looked angrily at Tyler.

"Look Baby Boy... It wasn't me. I don't know what the hell is going on, but I'll thank you now to stop the third fucking degree." He stormed off and Tyler sighed.

* * *

Avery walked into her Chemistry class and breathed a soft sigh of relief that she had gotten there before Reid. She sat down and set her bag on the table in front of her.

"Psst..." she heard behind her. She turned and Melanie Hudson smiled.

"_Yes?" _Avery asked slightly annoyed.

"Are the rumors true?"

"What rumors?"

"That you and Reid broke up?" Avery sighed.

"Yeah, we did." Melanie raised a perfectly tweezed eyebrow and a smirk appeared on her face. Her hazel eyes flashed with contempt.

"Did you really think that you could tame him, Ave?" She put the top of her pen between her teeth and grinned.

"No. I don't know what, or _if_ I was even thinking at the time, to be totally honest." She turned around and began pulling books from her bag. Reid walked over slowly and sat down. He looked at Avery as she pulled her book, notes, pen and the experiment envelope from her bag. She slowly looked up at him with sadness and hurt clearly visible in her green eyes. He looked down at the table in front of him, unable to look into her eyes anymore. Mr. Dodson walked in holding a thermal mug of coffee. He smiled at his class as he set it down. He turned toward the clock and watched as students rushed into the classroom eager to beat the bell. As the second hand drew closer to the 12, he made his way to the door. As the bell rang, he closed the door. He turned to the class and again smiled.

"I know that you are all excited about the Winter Formal that's coming up this weekend before you all scatter to the wind for the holidays, but please let me remind you, people, that your experiments are due in no later than five o'clock on Friday. If you have not gotten even remotely close to trying your experiments, I suggest you kick it into high gear and get it done. Let me assure those of you that are finding yourselves doing most of the work while your partner slacks off... You will be graded individually as well as a team. Now, please turn your books to pages 170 and 171." He turned to the white board and began writing. Reid leaned close to Avery and she slowly looked over at him.

"Do you want to meet in the Chem lab after school to start the experimenting?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, I think we should, don't you?"

"Absolutely. Maybe we can talk some more?"

"Reid... I really don't want to ta..." Mr. Dodson turned and looked at Reid and Avery.

"Am I once again interrupting your conversation with teaching?" he asked as a small rumble of laughter went through the class. Avery looked over.

"Um, sorry, sir. It won't happen again." She looked down at her book as the young teacher turned back to the white board.

* * *

Nicki walked up to Avery as she put books in her locker and pulled various notebooks and library books out. One by one she placed the books in her bag.

"How did Chem go?" she asked as she leaned on the locker next to Avery's. Avery looked up with a questioning look on her face.

"Fine. Should it not have been?"

"Well, I thought it might be weird seeing Reid after what happened." Avery shrugged.

"Eh... it was weird, but... I saw him yesterday. Besides..." She leaned closer to Nicki. "My Chem grade is more important than my love life. I'll deal... weird or not." Avery smiled as she closed her locker and placed the lock on the latch.

"Where are you off to now?"

"I have some experimenting to do in the Chem lab with Reid."

"Don't do something stupid like throwing acid on him or something."

"And ruin my nails... psssh, girl, get real." Avery grinned as Nicki laughed. "I would think that we'll be done in a couple hours or so... how 'bout we go to Nicky's later?"

"Sounds good to me. I could use a little fun time... and so could you." She smiled.

"See ya later, Nic."

"Yeah." Avery walked down the hall, ignoring the whispers and the faint laughter that happened as she passed by. "Great, now I am the laughingstock of the fucking school. Can this whole thing get any fucking worse?" she said quietly to herself. Slowly, Reid came into view slipping a labcoat on over his uniform in the Chem lab. Avery sighed deeply before she made her way into the stark white room filled with tables, beakers, chemicals and everything one would think of being in a lab. Reid looked over at her and smiled softly.

"I didn't think you would actually come," he said.

"My grade depends on this otherwise, believe me, I wouldn't be here. There are so many more places I would like to be than with you at the moment, Garwin." She set her bag on an empty table and grabbed a labcoat. She slipped it on and grabbed the experiment envelope from her bag. She took the papers out of it and set them on the table in front of the two of them. She leaned over the table and looked through the notes that both she and Reid wrote on the different sheets of paper. He looked at her and smiled softly.

"Isn't there anything I can do to fix this, Ave?" She looked up at him slowly.

"Nothing comes to mind at the moment. You do realize that I am now the laughingstock of the school because of you, right?"

"No, I had no idea."

"Well, now you do. People whisper and snicker when I pass them in the halls. Reid, you and I never even slept together, but yet, I am being treated like any other girl you have slept with and thrown away. So, no, there isn't a damned thing you can do to fix this." She looked back at the papers.

"I suppose asking you to be my date to the Winter Formal is out of the question then?" Reid smiled as Avery looked at him in disbelief.

"You really think I would say yes to you?"

"I can hope, right? It was worth a shot anyway."

"So, am I going to find a family of squirrels in my locker because I said no?" He laughed softly.

"No. Why would you think that?" Avery stood up and leaned one hand on the table.

"Maybe because the last person that declined your invite to the Winter Formal had that happen to them."

"Give me a break, Ave. I was fourteen years-old. I have grown up since then."

"I would hope so, but you never know." She smiled softly before going back to her papers. A few moments of silence passed between them.

"I meant every word I said to you yesterday, Ave. I am going to do whatever it takes to get you back. You're it for me."

"Mighty strong words for someone with a rep about as bad as a certain airheaded socialite out there." She furrowed her eyebrows. "Can we please get to work on this? I don't want to spend the next few days beating a dead horse. You and I are over... O. V. E. R. Deal with it."

"Alright, I'll drop it..."

"Thank you."

"For now." Avery rolled her eyes and her ringtone of _Head On Collision_ began playing from the pocket of her bag. She grabbed it and smiled at the picture of Braedon holding up a Starbucks cup on the screen. She opened it and put it to her ear.

"Hey Braedon." She looked over at Reid and he sat on one of the stools and snatched the papers from the table.

"Hey Ave. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. You?"

"Good. Um, I was wondering if maybe you might want to go out tomorrow night." Avery smiled as she looked over at Reid.

"Sure. Where?"

"Well, I thought I could take you to a movie, maybe some dinner afterwards."

"A movie and dinner sounds great." Reid looked up with a hint of jealousy in his icy blue eyes. "Um, I'll call you later, okay?"

"Yeah sure. I'll be looking forward to hearing your voice again." Avery smiled.

"Bye." She closed her phone and put it back in her bag.

"Who's Braedon?" Reid asked, his voice laced with venom.

"Um, not that it's really any of your business, but he's a guy I met at the ball on Saturday."

"And you're going to go out with him?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Because I don't like it." Avery laughed softly as she grabbed a beaker.

"You don't like it? Oh my God, Reid. What do you expect me to do? Sit around and become a spinster because you broke my heart?"

"Yeah, I kinda do." Avery set the beaker down and looked at him in disbelief.

"You really do have a high opinion of yourself, don't you?"

"You already know this about me, Ave."

"Yeah, I do... unfortunately." She walked over and leaned closely to his face. "Unfortunate for you though, Reid, you lost me the moment you stuck your dick in another woman. Everything you said to me was a lie. It was all a fucking game to you, wasn't it?" Reid got up and grabbed her wrist.

"How can you even say that? I fell in love with you, I am in love with you, Ave. I apologized for what I did. And..." She pulled her wrist from his grip as he turned around.

"And what?"

"I didn't have sex with her on Saturday." Avery sat down and looked at him.

"Why didn't you say something before now?" He turned and looked at her with sadness filling his eyes.

"Would it... will it make a difference?" Avery shook her head softly.

"No."

"Then why bother?"

"Why bother telling me now?"

"Because I don't want you continuing to think that I had sex with her when I didn't. If this is how things are going to be between us, then you should know the truth."

"I should have known the truth when we talked yesterday." She grabbed the beaker again and looked at him. "Can we please get to work?"

"Yeah, sure."

* * *

A/N: Hmmm... a new guy after Ave's heart and an ex that won't give up... might make for some nice fireworks down the line. ;)


	3. Over Me

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews. I appreciate it and glad to know some people are enjoying this fic. This chapter came to m while listening to Over Me by New Found Glory (if you can't tell, I love that band to death. :) ). Anyway, please review again! Italisized(sp?) portions are dream sequences.

**Disclaimer:** I only own original characters.

* * *

Nicki and Avery walked into Nicky's and smiled as they passed the large bald man behind the bar. They found a table and took their coats off. They sat down and Avery looked around. Nicki smiled at her friend as she set her purse in the empty chair at their table.

"How did the Chem experiment go?" Nicki asked.

"Fine. Our first trial went pretty well. Need to keep trying different variations though." Avery looked up and saw the look on Nicki's face. "Oh... you didn't really want to know about the experiment, did you?"

"Um, no." Avery laughed.

"He wanted to talk when I first got there. Said he would do anything to fix it because 'I am it' for him." Nicki raised her eyebrow and grinned.

"Anything?" Avery smiled slowly.

"I know that look Nic. What's on your mind? As if I haven't already thought it myself."

"Why not see what he really _would_ do to get you back?"

"Nic... I just want to leave it and move on. Torturing Reid, however fun it may be, isn't my style, you know that."

"It may not be your style, but it sure as hell would be mine." Nicki grinned as she stood up. "Want a soda or something?"

"Uh, yeah. A Coke is good."

"Alright. I'll be back." Nicki smiled and walked away.

* * *

Reid and Tyler walked into Nicky's and greeted people that they always saw when they stopped by. Tyler saw Nicki standing at the bar and smiled.

"I'll be back in a sec. Nic's here," he said as he walked away. Reid looked over and saw Avery sitting alone and while he wanted to go and be with her, he walked over to the pool tables.

"Fancy seeing you here," Tyler said as he stood next to Nicki. She smiled as she turned around. They kissed and she looked at him.

"What are you doing here?" Nicki asked.

"Uh, Reid wanted to get out. You here alone?"

"No, I'm here with Ave." She looked over and smiled as Avery spotted her and smiled as well. "He's not going to be bothering her all night is he? If so, we can go somewhere else." He scanned the room and saw Reid playing pool.

"I... don't think that's going to be a problem." Tyler smiled as he turned back to Nicki. "So, after we dump our respective friends, you and I spend a little time together?" Nicki smiled as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Mmm... that sounds like a plan. I'll call you." They smiled and kissed again.

"Alright. I'll see you later, Sweetheart." He walked away and Nicky set two glasses on the bar.

"Three bucks," he said with a smile. Nicki dropped three bills in his hand.

"Thanks, Nicky."

"No problem, Nic." She took the glasses and walked away. She walked up to the table and set a glass in front of Avery before sitting across from her.

"I saw Tyler and Reid are here," Avery said as she sipped her soda.

"Yeah. Tyler said Reid wouldn't be a problem tonight."

"Honestly, I don't care if he is a problem. I don't want everyone treating me like I am going to break or something. I am going to have to interact with Reid in school and all that. Trying to avoid him isn't going to make me heal any faster." Nicki sipped her soda.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm positive." Avery smiled. "Oh, guess who asked me out..."

"Braedon?" Avery frowned.

"Well, damn, don't give me the chance to be all girly about it." Nicki smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Ave, he's the only guy that is actively pursuing you at the moment. Though, I suspect that is going to change since it is making the rounds at school that you are single yet again. Guys are going to be lining up waiting for you to talk to them."

"Geez, make me sound like Barbie." They laughed.

"Oh, have I told you that it looks like Melanie is aspiring to take the title as Barbie?"

"No." Avery laughed softly. "I suppose it's not such a jump that she would."

"Ave, she has a damned pink convertible." Avery covered her mouth to prevent herself from spitting soda all over.

"Please tell me you're kidding."

"I wish I was. Her dad gave it to her as an early Christmas present." Avery rolled her eyes.

"What is this fascination with wanting to be a living Barbie doll? Seriously."

"Who the hell knows? I just find it damn funny." Avery looked toward the door and saw Caleb walk in with Pogue following closely behind him. They scanned the room quickly and made their way over to Tyler and Reid. Reid looked up from his bent over position and smiled at the dark-haired boy that was glaring down at him.

"'Sup Caleb?" he said as he stood and held onto the pool cue he was using.

"Have you been using?" Caleb asked as quietly as he could in the rowdy room full of people. Reid furrowed his eyebrows and glared at Tyler.

"No," he said simply. "Why is it when you feel someone using, you automatically think it was me?"

"Maybe because nine times out of ten, it _is_ you." Reid smirked.

"What the hell is going on here? I feel like we are caught up in some deja vu shit." Pogue sighed softly.

"Maybe we should take this conversation outside," Pogue said as he looked around as people began looking at the small group in anticipation of a fight breaking out. Caleb ran his fingers through his short dark hair and rolled his eyes.

"Alright... Let's go talk," Caleb said as the three boys began walking out and Caleb looked over his shoulder. "You too, Tyler." Tyler shook his head and took a deep breath.

"Why the hell do I always get dragged into shit that has nothing to do with me?" he asked quietly as they all walked out into the alley behind the bar. After a precursory look at all the crates of empties and kegs and satisfied that they were alone, Caleb rounded on Reid.

"Tell me the truth, Reid. Have you been using?" Reid looked angrily at Caleb as he took a step forward and got in the older boy's face.

"How many times am I going to have to defend myself? No, I was not using. I haven't in a few days to be completely honest. I have other things on my mind at the moment."

"Why should we believe you?"

"Why the fuck should you not believe me? Have I ever lied to you... to any of you?" His blue eyes looked from one boy to another. As his eyes stopped on Tyler's, they took on a pleading look and Tyler looked up at the star-filled sky.

"Caleb...," he said softly as he looked at the back of Caleb's head. Caleb turned quickly and a look of concern mixed with frustration and anger took over his face. "It's not Reid." Caleb crossed his arms over his chest and sighed deeply.

"And how do you know this?" Tyler rolled his eyes as he turned his head slightly to the side.

"Reid and I have been best friends for many years and I can't believe he would out and out lie to you about something like this. Besides, he's my roommate as well... if he was using, I would be the first to know, don't you think?" Pogue looked from one boy to another and another.

"If it's not any of us... who is it? You're sure Chase is gone, right?" Pogue asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Caleb began, "His body was never found. He's gone."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I just am," Caleb said, his voice laced with frustration. He looked at Reid and Tyler. "If either of you notice anything out of the ordinary, let me know. Can you do that for me at least?" Reid and Tyler nodded slowly as Caleb looked at Pogue. "The same for you as well Pogue, please. We need to get to the bottom of this."

"We will, man." Pogue clapped his hand on Caleb's shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry about it, man. We'll figure out what's going on." Caleb sighed and ran his hand over his face.

"Let's hope no one gets hurt in the process." They all nodded and went back inside.

* * *

Avery and Nicki walked into their room a few hours later, giggling about nothing in particular. It was one of the rare moments that the girls shared where one could start laughing about nothing in particular and that would immediately get the other girl started. They tossed their coats over their desk chairs and sat on their respective beds. Avery sighed as she laid her head back on her stack of pillows.

"Have you ever noticed how sexy Reid looks when he is all intent on making a shot when playing pool?" she asked suddenly. Nicki's giggling died down as she looked at her friend.

"Where the hell is this coming from?" she asked as she laid on her stomach.

"I dunno. It was just something that I was thinking about." Nicki rested her head on her hand and smiled a little through dreamy eyes.

"Are you thinking about taking him back?" Avery shook her head.

"I dunno. I miss him Nic." Nicki smiled softly.

"I can tell. I saw the way you were looking at him all night... it looked kinda like you were willing him to come and talk to you." Avery looked over at her friend and smiled.

"No... can I ask you something?"

"Sure, you know you can." Nicki sat up and crossed her legs underneath her body.

"Why does this have to be so hard? Everytime I'm around him, I can put up a good front, but inside, I feel like I am dying a little inside." Nicki's eyes took on a look of sympathy for her friend and she smiled.

"You're in love with him, Ave. It's understandable that you feel this way. Question is... what are you going to to about Braedon? He is genuinely interested in you... for what reason, I have no clue..." Nicki began giggling again as Avery's mouth dropped open in a gasp.

"Bitch," she said with a smile.

"I'm just kidding, Ave. Seriously though, what are you going to do about him?" Avery sighed softly.

"I dunno. I have a date with him tomorrow, I guess I'll see how things go... if there is a spark or something."

"You're sure about that?"

"No, but I would feel like a total hag backing out of the date." Avery smiled a little. "I always hated it when guys would do that to me... especially when I knew that their excuse was completely bogus." Nicki smiled and Avery closed her eyes for what she thought would be a few moments.

* * *

_Avery slowly opened her eyes to the feeling of someone poking her nose gently. As her eyes adjusted, she took in her surroundings. The sun was setting and she could see the lighthouse out on Marblehead. She smiled as she looked up at the person that had been her pillow for who knows how long as she slept. She couldn't make out his face clearly no matter how hard she willed her vision to clear completely._

"_I was wondering if you were going to sleep through the entire sunset," a male voice drifted into her ears. She smiled as she sat up a little._

"_How long have I been asleep?" she asked softly as she ran her hands through her light-brown hair._

"_'Bout forty-five minutes or so." The man sat up beside her and she laid her head on his shoulder as she looked out at the sun setting._

"_It's so beautiful out here. I don't know why it is that I don't come out here more often." She felt his hand slowly stroke the skin of her side under her shirt and she smiled. She looked at him and immediately his soft lips captured hers. His tongue slowly snaked its way into her mouth as her pulled her onto him as he laid back on the hood of the car they sat on. She straddled him and looked down at the faceless man beneath her. Still willing her eyes to clearly make out his face, but to no avail. She leaned down and they kissed again as his hands moved up to her waist. She smiled as she ravaged his mouth with hers and her hips involuntarily moved back and forth over his. She moaned softly into his mouth and all of the sudden, she heard a digital beeping in the distance. She sat up and furrowed her eyebrows._

"_What's wrong?" he asked breathlessly._

"_Do you hear that?"_

"_Hear what?" She could hear the confusion in his voice. She put her head down and closed her eyes as the beeping got louder._

Avery opened her eyes and sighed as she looked around her room. Nicki looked back at her and smiled softly.

"You okay?" she asked as she grabbed a scrunchie from her nightstand. Avery sat up slowly and shook her head.

"No... another dream..."

"Same faceless guy?"

"Yeah, I think it was the same guy. The voice was the same, but still no clear picture of his face." She sighed again and fell back onto her bed.

* * *

The next afternoon, Nicki stood in front the Chem experiment that she and Reid were working on holding a beaker. She looked over at Reid as she began to pour liquid from the beaker into another. Reid looked up at her and smiled a little.

"Any idea why none of the experiments has worked?" he asked. Avery sighed softly.

"Not one clue. I'm just hoping nothing blows up while we are doing this." Reid laughed and walked over to her.

"What are the chances of that happening?" Avery stopped pouring and set the beaker down.

"With me, very high. Seems like I can't go through a year in Chem without something frinkly happening. I think freshmen year it was my experiment turning into a big pink foamy, frothy thing that literally crept out of the beaker. Sophomore year it was something resembling volcanic ash oozing from a small test tube and last year it was a volcano of greenish-blue liquid spewing from a beaker on a burner." Reid laughed as memories of the year prior flooded his mind.

"Yeah, I remember last year. I thought the effect was pretty cool." Avery smiled slightly and blushed. "At least you haven't had the problem of something eating through the table like Melanie and Greg did a couple of years ago." Avery snickered and laughed. Reid smiled and touched her cheek. "I've missed your laugh, Ave."

"Reid..." He smiled and leaned down to kiss her. She pulled away slightly. "We can't do this, Reid. We're supposed to be working, not making out in the Chem lab."

"Who said we were going to make out? Maybe I was just going to steal a kiss." He smiled sweetly as she grinned.

"All the same Garwin, we need to get back to work." His heart began to ache as he thought about how much he loved the way she would move from calling him Reid to just calling him Garwin. She was the only one that it seemed a natural thing for. He sighed as he looked back to the beakers.

"Alright." Avery lifted the beaker she was holding and was tilting the glass when her cellphone ringtone of _Head On Collision_ began to play. She set the beaker down and grabbed her phone from her bag. She smiled at the picture of Braedon holding up a Starbucks cup and opened the phone. She put it to her ear as Reid looked over at her.

"'Lo."

"Hey, Ave. How's it going?" he asked. She looked over at Reid and smiled.

"Fine. What's up?"

"What time should I pick up for our date?"

"Um... we never did decide on what we wanted to see."

"I thought we agreed on _Eragon_."

"I thought it was that or _The Pursuit of Happyness_."

"No, we decided on _Eragon_."

"Okay, what time does it start?" She heard a newspaper rustling in the background.

"Um, there's a show at six-thirty and one at nine."

"Six-thirty sounds good. We can grab some dinner after that." She found herself smiling a little.

"Alright. I'll see you at six-thirty then." She could hear the smile on his face.

"I'll be waiting."

"Bye." She closed her phone and slid if back into her bag.

"Braedon?" Reid asked softly.

"Yeah. I'm sorry..."

"No need to be." He forced a smile and they went back to their work.

* * *

"Why the hell did you drag me to the movies to spy on your ex-girlfriend?" Tyler asked as he and Reid walked into the dimly lit theater. Reid looked over as they found two seats in the middle of the theater and sat down.

"It's not spying." Tyler looked over and smirked.

"The hell you say. What do you call it then?"

"Two friends going to see a movie."

"Two friends going to see a movie that one's ex-girlfriend just so happens to be going to with a new guy. Sounds like someone is living in a fantasy world." Reid lightly punched Tyler in the shoulder and smiled. "Ow... that hurt, you ass."

"I am not living in a fantasy world. I... want to see what this guy is like... I want to know who my competition is." Tyler rolled his eyes and grabbed a handful of popcorn from his tub and ate some.

* * *

A/N: And so the date begins...


	4. Two Can Play This Little Game

**A/N:** I am back with yet another chappie. :) Thanks for the reviews for the last one. Please continue to review. I am liking where this fic is going at the moment. Hopefully you guys will too. Some drama ahead, so there is your warning.

**Disclaimer:** I only own original characters.

* * *

Avery and Braedon walked into the dimly lit theater and looked around the nearly full theater for two seats together. Braedon nudged her arm and pointed to two seats three rows from the screen. They made their way down the aisle and across to the seats. They sat down and he pulled a box of Goobers from his jacket pocket. Avery grabbed a handful of popcorn and looked over at him.

"You have to be the first person that I have gone to the movies with in a long time that didn't get some Mike & Ike's or Skittles." He turned his face up as he looked at her.

"Oh hell to the no. The lime ones were surely made by the devil to torture innocent consumers." Avery covered her mouth as she laughed loudly. Braedon looked at her with confusion evident on his face.

"What's so funny?"

"I feel the same way. Green bombs of nastiness, I call 'em." He smiled.

"No matter what you call them, they are the foulest things on this planet." They laughed softly.

"How's your visit going with your aunt?" He looked over at her and smiled a little.

"Um, fine. Quiet... then again, it usually is."

"Why's that?" He looked down at the chocolate candies in his hand and sighed.

"Um, my aunt is dead." Avery felt an embarrassed blush cover her face from ear to ear.

"I'm sorry... I..." He looked up at her and smiled reassuringly.

"It's okay, Ave. You didn't know. I'm staying with my uncle and a cousin for the holidays though. The holidays are never made out as a big deal anymore, not since she passed."

"You do this every year?"

"No, not every year. Something drew me here this year. Not sure what it was though." He smiled. "But whatever it was, I'm glad." Avery smiled.

"And why is that?"

"Because I get to spend some time with you." He leaned closer to her and gently placed his lips on hers. As he pulled back, she smiled softly while at the same time, thoughts of Reid raced through her brain. She looked down at her tub of popcorn and sighed softly. "Did I do something wrong?" She looked over at Braedon as the theater began to get dark.

"No, not at all. I just have a couple things on my mind."

"Wanna talk about it after the movie?"

"Sure." She forced a smile and they both looked to the huge screen.

* * *

Tyler leaned over toward Reid as they saw Braedon moving in for a kiss from Avery. Tyler looked at Reid and sighed.

"Do you still want to stay and watch the rest of this?" he asked softly. Reid shook his head slowly as Braedon's lips touched Avery's and they got up. Reid looked over as Braedon picked up his soda. A small ring of fire emanated from his irises and outward. Braedon's soda immediately spilled over Avery's lap and she shrieked. Reid laughed softly to himself as he and Tyler hurriedly made their way out of the theater.

"I'm so sorry, Ave," Braedon said as she got up.

"It's fine. Excuse me." Avery quickly made her way down the aisle with Braedon following her.

"How can I make this up to you?"

"Don't worry about it." She walked out of the theater and into the nearest bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror and sighed at the large stain on her tee-shirt and jeans. "I can't believe this." She cranked a length of paper toweling and dabbed her shirt and jeans. She sighed softly and leaned her head against the mirror. She watched as her breath fogged the mirror and disappeared slowly. She heard a soft knock on the door and she looked over. The door opened and she saw Braedon's face in the crack that was open.

"Um... here," he said softly as he stuck his buttoned down shirt into the bathroom. Avery smiled and walked over. She took it and he smiled.

"Thanks."

"It's the least I could do." He closed the door and Avery pulled her wet tee-shirt over her head. She slipped on Braedon's shirt and buttoned a few buttons. She tied it at her waist and rolled up the cuffs as she smiled at her reflection. She grabbed her tee-shirt and walked out of the bathroom. Braedon smiled as his eyes landed on her. "I don't think I have ever looked quite as good as you do in that shirt." Avery felt a blush come across her cheeks and she looked down at herself.

"Thanks again. I'll wash it and get it back to you as soon as I can." He smiled softly.

"Don't worry about it. Do you want to go watch the rest of the movie?" Avery scrunched up her nose and shook her head.

"Nah. It's kinda ruined for me now. Have you ever been to Nicky's?" He furrowed his eyebrows and smiled softly.

"Funnily enough, no, I haven't. What's Nicky's?" Avery grabbed his hand and smiled.

"C'mon, I'll show you." They walked out of the theater and to Braedon's car.

* * *

Reid and Tyler walked into Nicky's and Reid laughed. Tyler looked over at him and frowned slightly.

"How could you do that to Ave?" he asked as they walked over to the pool tables.

"Why not give myself a little extra edge?"

"Do you really want to win her back by using stupid grade school tricks?" Tyler grabbed a pool cue as Reid racked the balls.

"At this point, Tyler, I'll use whatever the hell I have at my disposal to get her back."

"What if she finds out about it?" Reid smirked as he stood up.

"She won't. She has no idea about..." He looked around at the people playing pool and talking around them. "You know..." Tyler leaned on his pool cue and looked at Reid as he lined up his shot.

"You don't ever plan on telling her about it?"

"If I have to I will, but I doubt it will ever come up in conversation. It's not like, 'Hey babe, you know that time that Braedon spilled his soda all over you? Well, that was me. I have this power,'" His voice got low as the word left his lips. "'And I can make anything I want happen. It was all me'." Tyler rolled his eyes.

"What kind of relationship can the two of you have with this kind of secret hanging over your head?" Reid gave him a condescending look as Tyler leaned over the table and lined up his shot.

"I guess the same could be said for your relationship with Nicki." Tyler looked up.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Have you told her about it?" Tyler shifted nervously.

"No, but I don't plan to keep it from her either. That is the difference between you and me Reid."

"_But_, you haven't told her just yet, have you?**" **Tyler looked down at the table and began contemplating his next shot.

"No... It's never come up."

"Exactly my point." Reid's eyes were drawn to the door as Avery and Braedon walked in. A shot of jealousy ran through him as he saw her grab Braedon's hand and lead him over to an empty table.

"How is it you can have family and visit here and never have been to Nicky's? I thought all the locals and their family have been here at some point or another," Avery said as she shrugged off her coat and set it in the empty chair next to her. Braedon ran his hand through his short black hair and smiled.

"Never had occasion to come in here, I guess." He looked around and smiled at the various activities people were engaged in. "You play pool?" Avery laughed softly and looked at him.

"Not well. I tend to stay away from the tables. Inevitably I make a total fool of myself." He smiled as he reached across the table and put his hand on hers.

"Foosball?" Avery shook her head. "Then what do you do when you're here?"

"Usually talk to my friends and occasionally, I dance."

"Wanna dance then?" Avery smiled and nodded. They got up and as they walked over to the jukebox, Avery felt Reid's eyes on her. She looked over and saw him staring at her as she and Braedon reached the jukebox. They looked down at the various artists and songs and he pointed one out. Avery nodded and Braedon dropped a quarter in the slot. She hit the buttons and they walked to the dancefloor. They began dancing closely and Reid sighed. Tyler looked over at him, then followed his eyeline to Avery and Braedon on the dancefloor.

"You wanna go, man?" he asked as he walked over to the visibly angry blonde.

"No, it's fine. Who's shot is it?" Tyler looked at the table before running his fingers through his perpetually messy brown hair.

"Um, yours." Reid turned his attention to the table and eyed a shot. He leaned over and lined it up. He looked up at Tyler and sighed softly.

"How could she bring him here?"

"Why not? It has food, they have to eat. Maybe after your little trick, they decided to do something else."

"She had to know I would be here." Tyler smirked as Reid made his shot. He lined up another.

"How the fuck would she know you were here unless she's psychic?" Reid looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"When the hell am I _not_ at Nicky's?" Tyler shrugged and smiled a little.

"True. Are you going to cause any more problems? If so, I think we should quietly leave." Reid stood up and watched as Braedon slid his hands down to Avery's waist and pulled her closer to his body.

"No... I think two can play this little game." Tyler rolled his eyes as Reid set his pool cue down and walked over to Melanie Hudson and her group of friends. Tyler sighed and set his pool cue on the rack. He leaned against the table and watched the, to him, silent exchange between Melanie and Reid. She giggled as he whispered in her ear before getting up and taking his hand. They walked over to the dancefloor and began Melanie began grinding against Reid. Avery's eyes drifted to them and she sighed. Braedon looked at her.

"You okay, Ave?" he asked softly. She plastered on a fake smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Um, are you hungry?"

"Yeah." He gently took her hand in his and they walked to the bar. Nicky walked over and smiled.

"Hey, Ave. What can I getcha?" She smiled as she leaned on the bar.

"Um, cheeseburger and a 7Up." She looked at Braedon and he smiled.

"I don't know what they have here," he whispered in her ear. She smiled as she looked back at the large, bald bartender.

"Um, make that two."

"I'll have a Coke though," Braedon threw in. Nicky nodded and walked away. Avery scanned the pool tables and saw Tyler talking with Sloan Eaton. She watched as Tyler leaned over and whispered something in her ear. She furrowed her eyebrows.

"Um, I'll be right back. I see a friend of mine," she said as she looked over to Braedon.

"Alright." He kissed her cheek gently and she began walking toward Tyler and the raven haired girl he was laughing with. She watched as Sloan grabbed Tyler's cellphone from his hand and she sighed softly to herself.

"Please don't let this be what it looks like," she said softly to herself as she got closer to the two teens. She stood next to Tyler and smiled as she tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped nervously as he turned to face her. "What's up, Ty?"

"N... nothing. What's up with you?"

"Not much. Mind telling me why the fuck Reid is out there grinding on the dancefloor with Melanie?" Tyler smiled softly.

"Are you jealous?"

"No, disgusted would be the word you were looking for." His smile slowly faded as Sloan pressed his phone back into his hand. She leaned closely to him.

"I programmed my number in there... speed dial number one." She gently kissed her finger and placed it on his lips. Tyler looked at Avery nervously. She looked over at Avery and smiled.

"Hey, Ave." Avery raised a cynical eyebrow.

"_Sloan_." Sloan smiled and walked away to join her friends that had just walked in. Avery blinked slowly as Tyler turned to face her. She cocked her head to the side and smirked as a blush quickly spread across Tyler's cheeks and ears. "So..."

"It's not what it looks like... I swear." Avery nodded.

"Mmm-hmm, I'm sure it's not. Fortunately for you, I'm not the type to jump to conclusions based solely on what I see, _however_, if Nicki were to hear this... well..." She turned to walk off and Tyler grabbed her arm.

"Wait..." Avery's light brown hair whipped over her shoulder as she turned to face Tyler again.

"Wait for what? My date is standing alone at the bar. I think it's rather rude for me to be spending all this time with you, don't you agree?"

"Are you going to tell Nic about what you just saw?" She leaned close to his face and smirked.

"Live in fear, Ty. Live in fear." She walked off and Tyler sighed deeply.

* * *

A/N: Ooooohhhh, looks like Tyler might be in a bit of trouble here. Wanna know what happens next? Keep a look out for the next chapter. :P


	5. And Ye Shall Be Bonded

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews. I'm glad to know some folks are liking this. :) I will warn you that some of this chapter might be a wee bit boring, but then again, filler usually is. Anyway, enjoy. :)

**Disclaimer:** I only own original characters.

* * *

Avery walked up to the bar as Nicky walked over with two red baskets. He stepped away and came back with two sodas as well. He set them on the bar and smiled.

"Eight-fifty," he said. Avery reached into her pocket and Braedon smiled.

"I got it, Ave." She smiled softly.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Call me old fashioned, but I was brought up to believe that the man pays for the dates." Avery raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"Alright... just this time. We may be fighting about that one later." He laughed softly as he handed a ten to Nicky.

"Keep the change." They each grabbed a basket and soda and walked back to their table. They set everything down and sat down. Braedon looked at Avery as he grabbed the ketchup. "So, who's the blonde that you were trying to avoid on the dancefloor?"

"My ex."

"Oh. I suppose I should have known by your body language that he was special to you." Avery shrugged a little.

"Was _once_ special. We aren't together anymore." Braedon looked over and Reid glared at him. Tyler looked at Braedon and Avery and smiled.

"They look kinda cute together," he said softly. Reid's head whipped toward Tyler.

"What?"

"I didn't stutter, Reid. They look kinda cute together."

"Yeah, well, we'll see who she ends up with, won't we." He turned his head back to Avery and Braedon.

"Reid..." Tyler said quietly. "If you continue to be an ass and use, all you're going to succeed in, is driving her away from you and further into his arms. Do you really want that?"

"No, but how else am I supposed to show her how much of a jerk this guy is?" Tyler scoffed.

"And how would you know that? Have you even tried get to know him, let alone meet him?" Reid shuffled from one foot to the other.

"Well, no, but..." Tyler grabbed his arm and rolled his eyes.

"Come on. He may be really cool for all you know." Reid smirked as he got his arm away from Tyler's grip.

"You mean to tell me that you would want to be introduced to the guy that Nic dates after you?"

"I would like to think I am evolved enough to say yes, _however_, I think if you want to really know what this guy is like, you should meet him... get to know him... be his friend... If possible." Reid smiled as did Tyler.

"Well, well, well. Seems as if I have rubbed off on you a hell of a lot more than I originally thought there Baby Boy." Tyler sighed.

"Will you please stop calling me that? It's getting kinda old." Reid smiled as he patted Tyler's cheek.

"No. Long as you are the youngest, which will be always, you will be Baby Boy." Tyler shook his head softly and they walked over to Avery and Braedon. She looked up as she grabbed her cheeseburger.

"What the hell?" she asked softly. Reid and Tyler smiled.

"We thought we would come by and say hi. Meet your date," Tyler said. Avery looked at Braedon and he smiled. Avery cleared her throat and set her burger back in the basket.

"Um, Braedon Gilbert, Tyler Simms and Reid Garwin. Guys, this is Braedon." Braedon stood up and extended his hand to Tyler. They shook hands and Reid looked at his hand as he extended it to him. Slowly a smile appeared on his face and he took Braedon's hand and shook it.

"Um, do you both wanna have a seat?" Braedon asked. Avery tried to discreetly shake her head in the hopes that Tyler would see and lead Reid back to the pool tables, but...

"Sure," Tyler said. The two boys sat down and smiled again. Braedon sat down as Avery sighed softly.

"_Can this date get any worse?_" she thought to herself.

"So... you live here in town, Braedon?" Tyler asked.

"No. Just here visiting family for the holidays. I take it you live here?" Reid nodded.

"Yeah. Been here all our lives," Reid said as he looked at Tyler. "Descendants of the founding fathers of this town." Braedon raised his eyebrow.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah." Avery heard her cellphone ringing and she sighed. The three boys looked at her as she grabbed it from her bag.

"It's my mother," she said as she looked at the screen. "Excuse me." She got up and walked away.

"She doesn't seem to happy to hear from her mother," Braedon said.

"No, she and her mother have this love/hate relationship. Avery loves to hate her... more or less." They all laughed.

* * *

"Hi Mom," Avery said as she opened her phone and put it to her ear. She opened the door and walked out to the parking lot.

"Hello, Dear. How are you doing?"

"Fine... can we cut the niceties, please? What do you want?"

"How do you know I want something?"

"Because you never call me in the middle of the week unless you want me to do something, so what is it?"

"Well, I don't want you to do anything actually. I was calling to let you know that your father will be there to pick you up from Spenser promptly at 9am on Sunday. We're planning on going to the cabin in Maine for Christmas then New York for New Year's."

"Wait, wait, wait... what happened to spending the holidays in Boston?"

"Well, the management here at the hotel wouldn't let us bring in a Christmas tree. Something about fire hazard or some such nonsense, so we thought the cabin would be better." Avery sighed softly.

"_Great_... _three weeks with the wicked bitch of the east_," she thought to herself. "Alright Mom. Thanks for calling."

"Wait, Darling."

"Yeah?"

"Why don't you see if maybe Nicolette would like to join us? Maybe some other friends of yours. Make it more fun for you." Avery's eyes narrowed quickly.

"Who are you and what have you done with my mother?"

"Very funny. Avery, I know that there is no way you would willingly spend a week or two with me and your father in isolation. So, see if maybe a couple of friends might want to join us there."

"Alright Mom. Is there anything else?"

"No, that was it."

"Good. I'll just see you on Sunday then." She closed her phone and rolled her eyes. "As if anyone wants to spend Christmas away from their families." She sighed and walked back into the building. She stopped when she saw Braedon, Reid and Tyler playing pool. "Great, now Reid and Tyler have fuckin' stolen my date. I should just go back to the dorms and go to bed. That would be one way for this shit day to be over sooner." She slipped her phone into her pocket and walked over to the pool table occupied by the three boys. "Having fun?"

"Yeah, everything okay with your mom?" Braedon asked as he leaned over the pool table.

"Um, yeah. Braedon, I think I'm just going to head back to campus." He stood up and looked at her after making a shot.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'm kinda tired and you seem like you are having fun with Ty and Reid."

"I am, but I'm your date. I should take you home... if you really want to go." Avery nodded slowly as he set his cue on the table and looked at Reid. "I'll be back in a few." Reid and Tyler smiled.

"We'll still be here," Reid said as they did some kind of man handshake. Avery walked over and grabbed her bag and coat as Braedon followed her.

"Are you mad?" he asked as he grabbed his black leather coat.

"No, not at all." Avery slipped her coat on and smiled weakly. "Just the thought of my ex-boyfriend bonding with a guy I am on a date with _kinda_ skeeves me out. Sorry." He laughed softly.

"I suppose it would be a little weird if an ex of mine bonded with you."

"I don't begrudge you friendship with him, it's just a little weird for me is all." She shrugged and he smiled.

"No need to explain, Ave. I understand." She smiled softly and they made their way out to his black Chevy Avalanche.

* * *

Tyler looked at Reid as Avery and Braedon walked out. They smiled at eachother and leaned on the table.

"See, he's not that bad," Tyler said.

"No he's not. Something doesn't seem quite right though."

"And what's that? The fact that he genuinely likes your ex-girlfriend?"

"No. I dunno what it is just yet, but I'll figure it out." Tyler shrugged and grabbed the cue chalk. He slowly rubbed the cube over the tip of his cue and set it down.

"Face it Reid, you aren't going to like any guy that Avery dates after you because it _isn't_ you."

"Screw you, Tyler." Tyler laughed softly.

"Don't be evil at me for stating the obvious." Tyler stood up and walked around to the other end of the table.

* * *

Avery and Braedon walked into her dorm and she smiled as they stopped in the entrance hall. He took her hands in his and smiled.

"Despite Reid and Tyler, I had a good time tonight," she said as he smiled.

"Well, it didn't go how I had planned it, but it turned out alright. We'll have to go to the movies another time." Avery nodded.

"I'd like that."

"Why don't we try it on Saturday?"

"I would love to, but I can't then." Braedon looked down and frowned slightly.

"Alright." She smiled and put her hand on his cheek.

"The Winter Formal is Saturday night." She eyed him as he looked up into her green eyes. "Would you like to go as my date?" His smile was immediate.

"Sure. What time should I be here?"

"It starts at seven, so I guess we could meet in front of the hall at six-thirty or so."

"Alright. I'll be here." He leaned down slightly and gently kissed her. "Goodnight, Ave." She smiled.

"Night Braedon." She let go of his hand that she still held and he walked out of the building. She giggled to herself and ran up the stairs to her floor. She made her way down the darkened hall and stopped in front of her door. She stuck the key in the lock and her _On My Mind_ ringtone went off. She sighed softly. "Reid..." she breathed as she grabbed her phone from her pocket. She opened it and put it to her ear. "'Lo?"

"Are you back at the dorms?" came Reid voice through her phone. Avery rolled her eyes.

"Yes, _Dad_. What the hell do you want?"

"Just checking to make sure you got back safely." Avery smirked as she unlocked her door.

"Don't you mean you were being nosy to see if I was still with Braedon?" She walked into her room and Nicki smiled.

"No. Believe it or not, I do worry about you even though you aren't my girlfriend anymore, Ave." Avery smiled at Nicki as she sat on her bed.

"Why do I feel like I have entered the fucking _Twilight Zone_ tonight? First my mother and now you... what the hell is going on here?" Reid laughed into the phone.

"Feel how you want to feel. I'll see you tomorrow in Chem."

"Oh goody... please note my sarcasm. Bye Reid."

"Bye, love." Avery smiled and closed her phone. She looked at Nicki as she took her coat off.

"Um... what happened to you?" Nicki asked as she saw the shirt and the stain on Avery's jeans.

"Little accident at the movies." Avery got up and threw her coat and bag on her desk chair. She grabbed her slippers, bathrobe and shower caddy. "I'll be back. I am so in need of a shower."

"Alright." She walked out and Nicki looked back down at her book.

* * *

Avery walked back into her room and smiled. She set her caddy down and grabbed a scrunchie from her nightstand. She sat down and pulled her hair into a messy bun.

"What the hell are you working on that you couldn't go with Tyler to Nicky's?" she asked as she grabbed her pajamas and walked to the bathroom.

"Nicky's?" Avery felt a bolt of guilt go through her. "You saw him at Nicky's?"

"Um... yeah. He was with Reid." Nicki set her book down and swung her legs over the edge of her bed. Avery slipped off her robe and into her pajamas.

"What the hell was he doing at Nicky's? He told me he had a paper to work on for American Lit." Avery wished at that moment that she could just spend the rest of the night in the bathroom, but she knew that wasn't possible... they had no bathtub for her to sleep in. She swallowed hard before opening the door. She shut off the light as she walked out. She dropped her bathrobe at the end of her bed and sat down.

"If it's any consolation, him and Reid stole my fucking date." Nicki laughed and Avery grinned.

"How the hell did that happen?" Avery took her hair down and laid back against her pillow.

"Well, after the little accident at the movies, Braedon and I decided to go to Nicky's for a burger and while we were eating, they walked up and introduced themselves to him. My mother called and while I was outside talking to her, I guess they bonded." Avery shrugged and smiled. "It's alright... I think. I haven't broken up with a guy and had him then become friends with the next guy I was dating before. I don't really know the whole protocol on this situation." She laughed softly.

"Sounds like things went well with Braedon though."

"Yeah, he's a great guy, Nic." Nicki looked over and smiled.

"Thunderbolts?"

"No, no love at first sight."

"Sparks?" A smile slowly spread across Avery's face. "I'll take that as a yes."

"He's going to be my date for the Winter Formal on Saturday." Nicki smiled.

"Well, I guess another dress shopping trip into Boston is in order than, yes?" Avery nodded slowly.

"Yeah, just... please... don't tell my mother." They laughed.

"Speaking of your mother... what was all that when you came in?"

"Oh, my mother told me to invite a couple friends up to our cabin in Maine for Christmas. I can't think of anyone that would want to spend the holidays away from their families though." Nicki cleared her throat and pointed at herself.

"Um... _hello_. I would gladly get away from my mother for the holidays if I could." Avery furrowed her eyebrows.

"You sure your parents wouldn't mind you not being there for Christmas?"

"I guess I'll find out when I call in the morning." They smiled.

"Alright. So, back to my original question, what the hell are you working on that you couldn't go out tonight?"

"Oh, uh... paper for French class."

"I thought you finished that paper last week."

"No, I kinda got sidetracked with Tyler." Nicki grinned sheepishly as she picked her book up again. Avery grabbed her Ian McEwan book from her nightstand and began reading.

* * *

A/N: Hrmmmm... could the fit be hitting the shan for Tyler?? If you haven't noticed, I have a thing for Ian McEwan. I just finished reading Atonement a couple days ago and I am hoping to get my hands on some more stuff he's written.


	6. Fire & Ice

**Disclaimer:** I only own original characters.

_

* * *

__Avery looked down as she laced up her ice skates. She smiled as the feeling of the crisp air on her cheeks and the sight of her breath making ribbons in the cold air. She tugged at her gloves one last time as she stood up on wobbly ankles. She felt a pair of hands grab her waist and she smiled again._

"_Don't worry, I got you," she heard the familiar voice behind her. She turned only to see her partner wearing a scarf wrapped so far up his face that all she could see was a pair of blue eyes. She smiled at the child-like hat he wore on his head... the little pom-pom on top brought back memories of when she was a little girl and her father taught her how to ice skate on the pond at their cabin. He took her hand and they slowly made their way out to the iced over pond._

"_Are you sure this is safe?" He laughed softly as they took a hesitant step out onto the ice._

"_Positive." He leaned close to her ear. "Don't you know you can do anything in your dreams?" She laughed as he moved in front of her and took her hands in his gloved ones._

"_If that were the case, I would be able to see more than just your eyes." He rolled his eyes and Avery got the distinct feeling he was smiling beneath the scarf._

"_In due time, Ave. In due time." He let go of her hands and skated a little way in front of her. "I know you can ice skate... come on." Avery crossed her arms in front of her chest and smiled._

"_And how do you know that?"_

"_There's not a whole hell of a lot that I don't know about you." He motioned for her to join him._

"_Well, you're right. I can ice skate... I'm just like a newborn colt while making my way out to the ice." He laughed as she skated over to him. She laughed lightly as she skated a circle around him. "Why ice skating of all things to do in a dream?"_

"_What do you mean?" She skated to a stop in front of him._

"_Well, we could be at an amusement park, at the beach... making love somewhere warm... that kind of thing."_

"_If I didn't know better I would think you were trying to seduce me here." Avery smiled._

"_No, just a thought is all." She skated away. "I thought you wanted to skate." He skated after her as a light snow started falling. He caught up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She spun around and faced him. She reached up to unwrap the scarf to kiss him..._

"_AVERY!!" she heard and she sighed._

"_Not again..."_

"_What?" he asked as he touched her cheek with a gloved hand._

"AVERY!! You're going to be late!" Nicki shouted and Avery scrunched her eyes up.

"I swear, Nic, you have the worst fucking timing in the world." She looked over at Nicki who was zipping her skirt.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I was about to find out who my mystery man was and you had to wake me up." Nicki grabbed a thin white headband and slipped it on her head.

"I'm sorry, the next time you want to stay in bed and dream the day away instead of going to class, let me know the night before and I'll leave you alone." Avery groaned.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." She sat up and swung her legs over the edge of her bed. She stretched and got up. Nicki grabbed her loafers and slipped them on as Avery grabbed her uniform and went into the bathroom.

* * *

"Reid... Reid... wake up," Tyler said as he tied his tie. Reid opened his eyes and groaned as he sat up.

"What time is it?"

"Quarter to seven." Tyler sat on his bed and looked at Reid. "Someone was using again." The words came out almost at a whisper. Reid sighed deeply.

"I know. It woke me up." Reid ran his fingers through his blonde hair and got up.

"I don't get it, if it's not any of us, who the hell can it be?" Reid shrugged as he grabbed his uniform from his closet.

"Between you and I, I am beginning to think that maybe Chase isn't as dead as Caleb would like to believe he is." Tyler looked up.

"Why would you think that?"

"Because everything that's going on happened before. What are the chances that maybe, just maybe, Chase survived that confrontation with Caleb?"

"Don't you think that maybe we should bring this up to Caleb?" Reid scoffed.

"You saw how he reacted when Pogue brought it up. He doesn't even want to entertain the notion that Chase could be alive." He walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

"But what if it isn't Chase?"

"What are you saying Tyler? There's other people out there with the Power?"

"Why does that seem so far-fetched?"

"I think it would have been known long before now if that was the case, don't you?" Tyler got up and grabbed his blazer from his desk chair.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He slipped it on as Reid came out of the bathroom. Reid grabbed some socks and sat on his bed.

"So, what's going on with you and Sloan?" A blush rushed its way across Tyler's face.

"Nothing, why?"

"I saw you two talking and thought I'd ask. You aren't thinking of cheating on Nicki are you?" Tyler sat in his desk chair and gathered up his books.

"No, no..." He quickly tossed the books in his bag and got up.

"Good because I speak from experience... it's not worth it to break the heart of a woman you love."

"Really? Is that why you were grinding out on the dance floor with Melanie last night?" Tyler raised his eyebrow as he looked over at Reid.

"I was just doing that to make Ave jealous." Tyler smirked.

"Why would you think she would be jealous? She was with a new guy and in case you forgot, she left you Reid, not the other way around."

"I realize that Tyler, but I was hoping it would still have the same effect. I guess it didn't."

"No, I would say that it was a massive failure." Reid got up and grabbed his tie and blazer. "That being said, what are you going to do for a date for the Winter Formal?"

"I dunno yet. There are a bunch of girls I could ask, but none of them compare to Ave."

"So? Go stag."

"Hell no. Reid Garwin doesn't go to events without a date. You should know that." He smirked as he slipped his tie over his head and slipped into his blazer. "I'm sure I can find someone to be my date." Tyler laughed softly.

"Well, when you find a girl that is deaf, dumb and blind, let me know."

"Piss off, Tyler." Reid grabbed his books and stuffed them in his bag.

"Did I hit a nerve, Reid?"

"Be thankful you are my best friend or very bad things would be happening to you right now."

"Oooohhhh... I'm so scared, Reid." Tyler walked over and put his hand on the doorknob to open it. He pulled it back quickly with a yelp as Reid grinned.

"I told you." Reid walked over and opened the door.

"Was burning my hand really necessary?" Tyler blew cool air over his hand as he followed Reid out of their room. "This better not scar."

"Oh, it wasn't that bad. Quit whining." They walked down the hall and Reid smiled to himself.

* * *

Avery walked into the Chem lab and Reid looked up from a small stack of papers he was reading. He smiled as she stopped next to him and set her bag on the table. She glared at him and grabbed a labcoat.

"Did I do something?" he asked.

"What the hell was that last night?"

"What?" She slipped the labcoat on and walked over to him.

"Melanie? Really Reid, couldn't you have done better than that herpes incubator?" He grinned in her face.

"Jealous?"

"Oh yes... I am so jealous of that hoebag grinding all up on you. Because that is the type of girl I am. Get real." She poked him in the chest. "Besides, I know better Garwin. You could and would have done better than her if you were serious about..." He grabbed her and pressed his lips to hers. He felt her slowly begin to respond and his arms wrapped around her waist. She moaned into his mouth softly as his tongue parted her lips and made its way into her mouth. She put her hands on his chest and pushed away from him slightly. "Oh God... I didn't just do that." She disentangled herself from his arms and leaned on her hands against the table.

"Admit it Ave... you still want to be with me. No matter what has happened, you love me." Avery shook her head.

"No... that... that was a momentary lapse in judgment. That meant nothing." Reid walked over and put his hand on hers and smiled as she looked up at him.

"No, that was your heart doing the thinking instead of your head. I know you hate to be led by your heart, Ave, but why not follow it for once in your life?" She pulled her hand away from his.

"It was a lapse in judgment." She walked over and grabbed a beaker from the shelf full of them. "We have work to do. I don't want to spend the next couple hours dwelling on this." Reid shrugged and walked over to her.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I appreciate the feedback. :)


	7. Secret

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews for the last chappie. I know you all are waiting for Reid and Ave to get back together, but... well... I'm not gonna tell you. :P

**Disclaimer: **I only own original characters.

* * *

Nicki walked into the school's small atrium and saw Tyler sitting on one of the three benches reading. She smiled softly at the way the light caught the highlights in his hair. She quietly walked over and cleared her throat. Tyler jumped slightly and looked up. He smiled as she sat down. He closed the book and set it next to him on the bench.

"I'm not keeping you from something, am I?" she asked as he leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"No. Nothing that can't wait until later." He smiled. "I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to call you back last night." Nicki looked at her hands.

"It's alright. Um..." She looked up at him and tucked some stray strands of hair behind her ear. "Ave said she saw you at Nicky's last night." Tyler took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

"Yeah."

"I thought you were working on a paper for American Lit." Tyler looked at his shoes and sighed quietly.

"I was. Reid wanted to go spy on Ave and Braedon at the movies, so I got wrangled into driving him to the theater."

"That explains something that I didn't ask about. How about what I _did_ ask about?" He looked up and grabbed her hand.

"Well, after seeing Ave and Braedon kiss in the theater, he wanted to go blow off some steam, so he dragged me to Nicky's."

"That's it?" Tyler smiled softly.

"Yeah." He jumped a little as his cellphone vibrated in his pocket. He smiled uneasily and grabbed it. He looked at the screen and closed his eyes as he opened it and put it to his ear. "'Lo?"

"Ty, it's Sloan, can you talk?" her voice floated through the earpiece of his phone and he looked at Nicki.

"No. I'm kinda busy at the moment. Can this wait?" Sloan sighed deeply.

"Yeah, I guess I can wait to talk to you." Tyler furrowed his eyebrows.

"You don't sound so sure."

"Well, I kinda wanted to talk to you about the dance, but if you're busy, it can wait."

"Alright. I'll call you later tonight and we can talk about it."

"I'll be waiting." He looked at Nicki and closed his phone. She raised her brown eyes to his face.

"You didn't have to cut your conversation short on my account," she said as she dropped his hand.

"You okay, Nic?" He touched her cheek softly and she pulled away from him slightly.

"Yeah, I'm fine Ty. Um... I have to go. I have some stuff to do." She got up and walked away. Tyler sighed and grabbed his book before getting up from the bench. He grabbed his bag from the ground and walked out of the atrium. He saw Nicki's skirt switching over her behind as she walked and he smiled to himself.

"Nic... wait!" He ran up as she stopped walking.

"What Ty?" He gently took her hand in his and looked at her.

"What's wrong?"

"I dunno, what's wrong Tyler? I am getting the distinct feeling that you are keeping secrets from me." Tyler's gaze shifted from her face to the door that opened suddenly to the right of them. He watched as a girl walked out of the classroom and made her way down the hall.

"I'm not keeping secrets from you, Nic. I have nothing to hide from you." As the words left his lips, he felt a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach.

"I want to believe that, but my gut is telling me something totally different. Last night wasn't the first time you have backed out on spending time with me. What's really going on here Tyler? Be honest with me. If you don't really want to be with me, let me know. I'll give you..." She looked down at the ring on her finger. "Scratch that... I'll keep the ring and we'll go our separate ways."

"Look, Nicki, I have some things going on that I can't tell you about right now, but I promise I will." She sighed.

"That's fine Tyler. I have to go." She pulled her hand from his and quickly walked away. He ran his hands over his face as he exhaled in frustration.

"Fuck!" he shouted in the empty hall. He walked off down the hall angrily.

* * *

Avery walked into her room and saw Nicki sitting on the windowseat looking out of the window with a pile of tissue sitting below her. She closed the door and set her bag on her desk.

"You okay Nic?" she asked softly as she sat on her bed. Nicki slowly looked over, her eyes red and puffy. She wiped her nose with a tissue in her hand and shook her head.

"I think Tyler's cheating on me." She sniffled as Avery opened her mouth to say something, but nothing would come out. She closed her mouth and shook her head softly.

"Why would you think something like that? Tyler hasn't ever cheated on any girl he has been with." Nicki swung her legs over the edge of the seat and placed her feet on the floor.

"He's keeping something from me, Ave. I know he is. When I asked him about it, he was hesitant to tell me that he wasn't. What else could it be?" Avery looked at the pattern on her blanket as she tried to gather her thoughts.

"I can't wrap my head around the _idea_ of Tyler even thinking about cheating on someone let alone doing it. That's more Reid's thing." Nicki's cellphone rang and she grabbed it from the nightstand. She smiled slightly at the screen and opened it before putting it to her ear.

"'Lo?" she said in as normal a voice as she could muster.

"Hey, Nic. It's Kate." Kate's voice was bubbly and cheerful as she always seemed to be.

"Hey, Kate. What's up?"

"Sarah and I were wondering of you and Ave wanted to join us for a Girl's Night at that new place in town, Royals. I hear they have karaoke." Her last statement came out in a sing-song voice.

"Um, hold on a sec and I'll ask Ave." She covered the mouthpiece of her phone and looked at Avery. "Kate wants to know if we want to go with her and Sarah to Royals." Avery furrowed her eyebrows.

"Where's that?"

"New place in town." Avery thought for a few seconds.

"Sure, sounds like fun." Nicki uncovered the mouthpiece and smiled a little.

"Sure, we'll go."

"Great... We'll all meet in the entrance hall in like a half hour. Is that enough time for you and Ave to get ready?"

"Yeah, that should be fine. See you in thirty." She closed her phone and set it back on the nightstand. She looked over at Avery and smiled. "Meeting 'em down in the entrance hall in a half hour. We need to change." Avery pointed to her friend.

"That would be a good idea." They got up and went about changing their clothes.

* * *

Reid sat on his bed looking through some notes for one of his classes. Tyler looked over from his laptop and smiled a little.

"I never thought I would see the day when you were actually doing some work and not copying my stuff." Reid looked over and smirked.

"Well, I don't really have much of a choice for Chem since you are in the Honor's class." Tyler's cellphone rang and he grabbed it from beside him. He looked at the screen then at Reid.

"It's Caleb." Reid sighed deeply.

"Great. What did I do now?" Tyler smiled a little and shook his head as he opened his phone and put it to his ear.

"'Sup Caleb?"

"Grab Reid and meet me and Pogue at the colony house in twenty minutes. We all need to talk."

"Okay. Is something wrong?"

"Just meet us there."

"Fine." Tyler closed his phone and got up.

"What's going on?" Reid asked as he slid to the edge of his bed.

"Caleb want us to meet him and Pogue at the colony house in twenty minutes." Reid stood up and grabbed a shirt from his closet.

"This can't be good." Tyler shook his head.

"No, it never is when we meet there."

* * *

Avery, Nicki, Kate and Sarah walked into Royals and smiled as they looked around. They found a table and sat down. Avery pulled off her coat and smiled as she hung it over the back of her chair. Kate smiled as she leveled her eyes on Avery.

"So, who is this new guy that you are seeing?" she asked point blank as she rested her chin on her hand. Avery smiled and looked from Kate to Sarah and back.

"How the hell have you heard about that already?" Avery asked.

"Melanie mentioned something about you being with a hottie last night at Nicky's." Avery chuckled softly.

"I should have known that herpes infested blabbermouth would say something to someone."

"So, who is he?" Sarah asked. Avery smiled.

"You two have really been spending way too much time together. You're turning into Kate, Sarah." They laughed as they looked at eachother then back at Avery.

"Don't change the subject." Avery looked at Nicki who sat beside her laughing softly. Avery cleared her throat and took a deep breath.

"He's just a guy I met in Boston a few days ago."

"Uh huh... go on."

"His name's Braedon, sophomore at BU and other than that, I don't have any interesting tidbits to share just yet. I didn't get to know a hell of a lot about him when we went out the other night. Tyler and Reid kinda stole him away from me." Kate raised her eyebrows.

"Do tell," she said as she smiled.

"They happened to be at Nicky's the other night and they all just bonded." Avery shrugged a little. Kate and Sarah looked at eachother and smiled.

"Reconnaissance," they said in unison.

"What?" Nicki asked as she leaned forward on the table.

"One of the oldest tricks in the book. Ex-boyfriend becomes 'friends' with the new guy their ex is dating to see what he's like. To find weaknesses to use against him so he can get you back."

"You really think Reid would do something like that?" Avery asked. Kate smirked as she looked over to Avery.

"Ave, word is he's pretty much going to do whatever the hell he has to to get you back. I don't know what you did to him, but he is sprung on you."

"Yeah, well, I think he needs to move on." Sarah smiled as she sat back.

"What's going on with you and Ty, Nic?" Nicki furrowed her eyebrows as she looked over at Kate.

"What do you mean?"

"Someone said he was a little cozy with Sloan Eaton at Nicky's last night," Sarah said. Nicki's head whipped around to look at Avery. Avery shrugged.

"Did you see him _with her_ last night?" she asked as Avery tried to avoid looking into her eyes.

"She wasn't with him when I talked to him last night." Avery felt bad for lying to her friend, but at that point in time, she thought it was best to avoid a big scene.

"You're sure?"

"Yeah, I think I would know if I saw him with another girl." Sarah nudged Kate in the arm.

"Alright girls, simmer down. C'mon, we're here to have fun, not talk about guys all night. It's a Girl's Night... let's enjoy it," Kate said with a bright smile.

"Yeah... so who's up for karaoke?" Sarah asked as she smiled. Avery and Nicki shifted their eyes to the two girls and smiled.

* * *

A/N: Please review!


	8. Back To The Book

**Disclaimer:** I only own original characters.

* * *

Reid and Tyler slowly walked down the stairs that seemed to be cut from the rock that the Danvers' colony house stood on. They saw Pogue and Caleb standing near the old, scratch that, _ancient_ bookcase. The bookcase held all records of the Power since before the founding fathers had first settled Ipswich. All births, deaths and marriages that had taken place in the original colony for over two hundred years were in the dusty volumes that lined the numerous shelves. Also contained on the shelves was _The Book Of Damnation_. The last time the four teens had consulted the book was for information regarding Chase Collins' paternal lineage. Reid and Tyler stepped from the last step as Caleb and Pogue turned to look at their two friends.

"Something wrong?" Reid asked softly as they each walked to the stone seat that was carved with their familial name. Caleb looked from one boy to the next and so forth until his eyes landed on Reid with a soft sigh. They all sat in silence. Pogue looked at Caleb. "This must be pretty bad if you can't even speak about it." Pogue turned his gaze on Reid and he sighed.

"Caleb... you wanna tell them what you think or should I?" he asked softly. Caleb lifted his deep brown eyes to meet those of his friends.

"I am beginning to think that maybe Chase has come back." A look of skepticism quickly filled Reid's face.

"How can that be possible? You said you were sure he was dead." Caleb ran his fingers through his hair and looked to Reid.

"I _was_, but the amount of using that has been going on has made me reconsider that."

"But, if he was back, don't you think he would have gone after one of us by now? It's been going on for a few days. The fury that he had back in September would make one think that he would have made a move by now. Something... shown himself in the very least," Tyler spoke up as he looked from Caleb to Reid to Pogue.

"He could be waiting for his moment."

"Why is it so hard to believe that there could be other people out there that have the Power, Caleb?" Tyler's eyes took on a look of seriousness. "Why should we believe that we are the only four in the world that have this... anomaly about them?" Caleb's eyes drifted to the youngest member of their exclusive little group.

"Because in all the recorded history of Ipswich..." Caleb motioned to the bookcase. "There has never, _never_, been mention made about other people that have it."

"So because some people may have chosen not to settle in Ipswich, you want to believe that we are the last with Power? How ignorant is that?" Tyler sighed in frustration. "Have you seen a Darkling since we have been feeling someone using?"

"No," Caleb and Pogue said in unison. Tyler's eyes moved to Reid, who looked up and shook his head softly.

"Then I would think that would be your sign that it isn't Chase. The Darkling signifies ill will wished upon the receiver. He made sure he sent one to both you and Pogue last time, but none of us have encountered it now." Reid looked at Caleb.

"He does have a point, Caleb. Chase would have made a move by now if it was him. With you having already ascended and Pogue ascending right before Christmas... it doesn't make sense to not even show himself," Reid said as he folded his hands in front of him.

"Okay, so if it isn't Chase... how do we find out who it is?" Pogue asked.

"We wait. Whoever it is, is here in Ipswich for _some_ reason. They'll make themselves known before too long," Tyler said. Caleb looked between Reid and Tyler and smiled softly.

"You two have really thought about this haven't you?" he asked with a note of pride in his voice.

"Well, yeah," Tyler began, "Reid may be an asshole..." Reid looked at Tyler suddenly and flipped him off. "And I may be the youngest, but what happens to the covenant concerns us all. We have to have eachother's backs, right? That's what this whole secrecy thing is about." Pogue smiled.

"It's nice to see someone other than Caleb taking things so seriously here," he said. Tyler looked over at the empty seat which once held the name of Putnam. The carving where the name should have been was there, but the name had long been chiseled away to remove any memory of John Putnam.

"Do you guys ever wonder what it would have been like had Chase not been the psycho hosebeast he was?" Tyler asked softly. Caleb raised an eyebrow and looked to Tyler.

"I think things would still be the same, we would just have another person that was in our group is all." Reid looked at Caleb.

"And we wouldn't be living in this constant fear of someone coming after us or revealing what it is we have and can do," he said as he stretched his legs out in front of him. The boys all nodded. "Are we done here? I have things to do."

"Like what? From what we hear things with you and Ave have gone down in flames," Pogue said with a shit-eating grin. Reid stood up.

"Well, you know phoenixes rise from the ashes."

"Yeah, but since she has a new guy, I think your phoenix is dead and gone... forever." Caleb found himself laughing softly at the exchange between Reid and Pogue. Tyler got up and stretched.

"Seriously... I need to get back to the dorm. I have some things I need to take care of." Caleb raised his eyebrows.

"Like sneaking around with Sloan Eaton?" he asked as he cocked his head to the side. Tyler's face and ears reddened.

"I'm not sneaking around with her... she's helping me with something," Tyler said defensively.

"Yeah, getting some booty," Reid said with a laugh. Tyler shook his head and looked down.

"Why is it that is all you think about, Reid?"

"Because what other reason would you have to be even associating with her? You're in all the Honors classes at Spenser, she's not. You and Nic aren't sleeping together... that's all Sloan seems good for and trust me, she's good in that department." Reid wiggled his eyebrows and grinned.

"Tsk..." Tyler shook his head as looked at Caleb. "Are we done here?"

"Yeah, go on. If anything comes up, I'll let you know. Keep your eyes and ears open."

"Will do." Tyler and Reid made their way to the stairs. "I really don't think we have anything to worry about here Caleb." Tyler smiled as he and Reid climbed the stairs.

* * *

Avery, Nicki, Sarah and Kate walked into the entrance hall all giggling and singing the chorus to _Glamorous._ They walked over to the door to the stairwell and Avery pushed it open.

"Nic?" the girls all heard behind them. They all turned and saw Tyler standing next to the front doors. "Um... can I talk to you for a bit?" She looked down then back up to him.

"Yeah, I guess." She walked over to him the other girls went into the stairwell letting the heavy steel door slam behind them. Tyler took Nicki's hand and they walked over to one of the leather couches that stood in front of one of the windows. Nicki sat down and sighed. Tyler sat next to her and took one of her hands.

"Um..." Nicki looked at him.

"Why were you with Sloan last night?" she asked suddenly.

"Ho... How did you hear about that?"

"Apparently it's been going around school, Tyler. Why am I the last to know that you and I are breaking up?" He shook his head as he tried to clear his thoughts.

"Why would you think that we're breaking up?"

"Maybe because everyone has said that you and Sloan were pretty friendly last night. If that was the kind of girl you wanted, why the **fuck** did you ever go out with me?"

"Nic..." She stood up abruptly and looked at him.

"It's fine Ty. You want a fucking slut for your girlfriend, so be it. You can have her." She walked away and quickly into the stairwell. Tyler sat dumbfounded for a moment.

"What the hell just happened here?" he asked to the empty hall. He got up and hurried to the stairwell. As he let the door slam closed he heard another overhead slamming. He took the stairs two at a time as he made his way up to Nicki's floor. He pushed open the door and watched as Nicki disappeared into her room. He walked down the hall and knocked on her door. Avery opened the door and smiled.

"Hey Ty," she said softly. He looked passed her and saw Nicki crying on her bed.

"Um, I need to talk to Nic. I think we had a little mix up in communication here." Avery looked over her shoulder at her friend.

"Nic, do you want to talk to Tyler?" Nicki sniffled as she looked up.

"No. I have nothing to say to him." Avery looked back at Tyler. She raised her eyebrows.

"You heard her."

"Fine... I'm going to wait out here until you talk to me, Nic."

"You're sure about that? What if she never wants to talk to you?"

"Then I guess I'll be your guys doormat for a long time." Avery smiled and closed the door. She walked over to her bed and sat down. She looked at Nicki and sighed.

"What happened?"

"I guess we broke up." Nicki looked up with her eyes filled with tears.

"Why?"

"Sloan."

"Did you even let him try to explain? Wasn't that what you told me to let Reid do if he tried?" Nicki nodded.

"Yeah, but..."

"But what? Why is it your advice doesn't apply to yourself then? I know you aren't a hypocrite, but um..." Avery's eyes drifted to the door and she smiled softly. "You might want to go and talk to him. I really don't like the idea of Tyler Simms being my doormat because my best friend was too stubborn to give the guy a chance to explain himself." Nicki smiled softly as she wiped her eyes on the back of her hand.

"Alright... I'll go talk to him." She got up and walked over to the door. She opened it and Tyler smiled. Nicki rolled her eyes a little and stepped out into the hall. She closed the door and looked up at Tyler. She raised her eyebrows as he took her hand.

"Listen Nic... I was not cozying up to Sloan. I think she got the wrong idea when I asked for help with something."

"Help with what?" He smiled softly as he touched her cheek.

"Your Christmas present. I needed to talk to her father about it."

"Why would you need to talk to her dad about _my_ Christmas present?"

"Well, that, I can't tell you... then it wouldn't be a surprise, but believe me... there is nothing going on with Sloan. I would never cheat on you Nic. You should know that. We have been friends for all these years... when have I ever lied to you?" He smiled softly as she grabbed his hand that was on her cheek.

"True," she said softly. He leaned his head down to her and gently kissed her lips. She pulled away from him slightly and looked into his blue eyes. "So, does this mean _we are_ going to the Winter Formal together then?_" _He rolled his eyes as he drew in a deep breath.

"Do you really have to ask?" Nicki smiled and looked at his shirt.

"No, but I thought I would be polite instead of assuming that we are going together."

"Who the hell else would I be going with, Nic? You're my girlfriend." She laughed softly.

"I like it when you say that." He grinned.

"You're my girlfriend." She smiled and kissed him. "You're my girlfriend." She kissed him again. "You're my girlfriend." He looked at her and they kissed one last time before Nicki opened her door.

"I'll see you in the morning?" Tyler smiled.

"Yeah. I meet you in the dining hall for breakfast." Nicki smiled.

"Our usual table?"

"Yep. Just the two of us."

"Alright." She stood on her tip toes and kissed him one last time before walking into her room. Avery looked up from her book and smiled.

"Looks like things went well out there." Nicki smiled as she sat on her bed.

"Yeah. He explained everything to me. It's all good."

"Good. Like I said, I can't believe Ty would cheat on anyone. It's not in his nature to do something like that." Nicki smiled as she kicked off her shoes and got comfortable on her bed.

* * *

The next afternoon, Nicki and Avery ran down their hall to their room. Avery took off her blazer as Nicki unlocked the door. The busted into their room and were stopped cold by the bouquet of Black Beauty roses and Calla Lilies sitting on Avery's bed. Nicki looked over at her friend slowly.

"Where did those come from?" she asked softly. Avery shook her head.

"I have no idea. We did lock the door before we left, right?" Avery looked at Nicki.

"Yeah. You double checked it before we took off for breakfast." They were quiet for a moment. "Are you going to go and see if there is a card or something? They're just flowers, they won't bite, Ave." Avery smirked as she looked at Nicki again.

"I know that. This is so damned weird... no one knows my two favorite flowers, not even Reid. He knows I love Callas, but... that particular rose..." Avery walked over and sat on her bed. She picked up the flowers and buried her nose in them. The intoxicating smell filled her senses as she looked at the flowers again. There was no card. She looked up at Nicki. "No card." Nicki walked over and sat on her bed. She smiled as she looked at Avery.

"Well, obviously someone knows your favorite flowers. I think it's rather romantic."

"Yeah, romantic and creepy. How the hell did someone get in here while we were gone?"

"I dunno, but we can think about it on the way to Boston. How the hell did we let the week get away from us?" Avery put the flowers down and got up she grabbed some clothes from her closet and went into the bathroom. Nicki looked at the roses as she got up from her bed.

* * *

Tyler looked over at Reid as he laid back on his bed. He sighed as he closed his laptop. Reid looked over as Tyler set his laptop on his nightstand.

"I know you felt it this afternoon... didn't you?" he asked softly as if afraid of speaking the thoughts he knew he shared with Reid. Reid nodded as he sat up.

"What the hell is going on?"

"I dunno, but it's beginning to worry me. Feeling someone using at night is one thing, but in the middle of the afternoon... whoever it is, is being bold about it." Reid rested his head on his hand and got lost in thought for a moment or two.

"Well, we can't do anything about it if we don't know who's doing it or for what purpose." Reid got up and grabbed his jacket and beenie from his desk.

"Where are you going?"

"It's Thursday, Tyler. I still need to find a date for the dance on Saturday." Tyler smiled.

"Who the hell are you going to find at this late date?"

"Dunno, but there has to be a girl out there that doesn't have a date." Tyler snickered to himself. "What's so funny?"

"Shawna Edmonds doesn't have a date." Reid smirked.

"I wonder why. Could it be that she has a mouth full of metal and glasses thick enough to kill a fucking ant on Jupiter if the sun catches them right?"

"I wouldn't think you would be so picky about this. Being that it's so close to the dance and all." Reid slipped his jacket on.

"I'm not being picky, but I do have standards. I don't think there would be much I could do with her."

"What does that mean?" Reid put his beenie on his head and smiled.

"Figure it out." He grabbed his keys and walked out of the room. Tyler sighed as he laid back on his bed.

* * *

Reid walked into the entrance hall and saw Erin Brown. The little southern girl he had met the year prior had sure grown up. Her red hair was pull into a loose ponytail that swung over her shoulder as she turned to look at Reid when he walked up to her. She smiled softly.

"Erin. How have you been?" he asked as he smiled.

"Just fine, Reid." Her southern accent surrounded him and he smiled. "How have you been? It's been awhile since we last talked."

"Yeah, I know, but not for lack of trying. Seems like you've busy or I have been."

"True. You have the swimteam and all that. I have the French club and the Mathletes." Reid cringed inwardly at the mention of the one academic club the school had that praised kids for being eggheads.

"Well, I was wondering if you were going to the Winter Formal on Saturday."

"I was, but my date kinda fell through. He came down with the flu." Reid grinned at the prospect of taking this lovely creature out on a date.

"Well, my date kinda fell through as well..."

"Yeah, I heard you and Avery Butler broke up over the weekend." He grinned sheepishly.

"Would you like to be my date for the dance then?" She smiled and Reid saw a faint glimmer in her bright green eyes.

"Sure."

"Great, um... meet in front of the hall at six thirty?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"So, are you busy now?" She stuck her left thumb through one of the belt loops on her jeans and smiled.

"No. What did you have in mind?" She winked and he grinned.

"Wanna grab a bite to eat?"

"Sure... have you ever been to that new place, Royals?"

"No, can't say that I have. Is it any good?"

"Yeah, actually it is. I'll drive." Reid smiled. They walked out to her car.

* * *

A/N: Reid's moving on... or is he? Please review!!


	9. Unlikely Allies

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and alerts. :) I appreciate them all!

**Disclaimer:** I only own original characters.

* * *

Avery and Nicki walked into their room a few hours later and laid their dresses over the backs of their desk chairs. Avery set her bag with her shoes on her bed as Nicki sat down across from hers.

"I have to say that was one of the better and quicker shopping trips I have ever taken to Boston," Nicki said as she pulled a shoebox from her bag. She opened the box and pulled one of the heels out of it. "You sure these aren't too much?"

"No, they looked beautiful with the dress. I think your only problem might be towering over Tyler though." Nicki smirked as she laid the shoe back in the box.

"I doubt that. He's six feet tall and I'm barely 5'9". These heels will add two inches tops." Avery laughed softly.

"Okay, if you say so." Nicki made a move to swat at Avery.

"Shut up, Ave." They laughed as Avery got up. She grabbed her dress and unzipped the black garment bag. She looked at the dress and sighed.

"My mother would not be pleased." She laughed as she hung the dress on her closet door. She stepped back to admire it. Nicki got up and stood next to her.

"Why wouldn't she? The bugle beads?"

"No, the almost completely sheer sides." Avery looked at Nicki and grinned. Nicki cocked her head to the side a little.

"What kind of panties does one wear with something that's sheer like that?"

"One doesn't." Nicki gasped and laughed.

"You aren't seriously going to go commando in that dress are you?" Avery shrugged.

"Dunno. I have a pair of nude ones in my trunk, but I guess we'll see when Saturday rolls around." She winked at Nicki and they laughed. "You hungry?"

"Yeah, but I'm kinda sick of Nicky's." Avery gasped and covered her mouth in mock shock.

"Blasphemy!" Nicki laughed. "So, where to then?"

"Royals was pretty good. Let's go there."

"Alright, sounds like a plan. Call Tyler and see if he wants to come with." Nicki nodded and grabbed her cellphone. _Head On Collision_ played from Avery's purse and she smiled as she grabbed her cellphone from the bottom of her bag. She opened it and put it to her ear.

"'Lo."

"Hey there," Braedon's voice drifted out to her. She could hear the smile on his face.

"Hey. What are you up to?"

"Not much. Just thinking of you." Avery grinned as that warm mushy feeling went to her stomach.

"And what exactly have you been thinking about me?"

"Well, it's been a couple days since I saw you and all that. I was wondering if you wanted to go out tonight."

"Uh, you mind making it a double date?"

"Sure, with who?"

"Nic and Tyler."

"Sure. Where are we going?"

"There's a place called Royals in town."

"I've heard of that place."

"Cool. We'll meet you there in a few, okay?"

"Alright."

"Bye." She closed her phone and dropped it back into her bag. Nicki closed her phone and looked at Avery.

"Ty said he'd drive," she said as she grabbed her purse from the desk and slipped her cellphone in the little pocket on the front.

"Great. Braedon's gonna meet us there."

"Alright... double date with my dream and your rebound guy." Nicki smiled as she grabbed her coat.

"Why would you say that?"

"Ave, everyone knows that the guy that comes after a break up is the rebound guy. Have fun with it... while it lasts."

"Bitch." They laughed. "What if he's more than a rebound?"

"Cool... he seems like good boyfriend material, I just doubt highly that he'll be around for long." She slipped her coat on. "Besides, you know that your heart belongs to Reid Garwin." Avery smiled softly as she looked down at her shoes.

"So what if that's the case? Why do you think I couldn't love someone else?" Nicki smirked.

"Do you love Braedon? Can you see yourself loving him?"

"I hadn't really thought about it. I feel like I'm dating myself to be really honest." Avery grabbed her coat and slipped it on.

"Why's that?"

"Because of all the things we have in common. Seriously, it's like dating a male version of myself, but he is a nice guy and I do like him."

"It's fine to like him... just don't date him." Nicki laughed.

"Yeah, he does seem like someone that I would be hanging out with playing video games and such, not someone that I want to make hot monkey love with." Nicki bent over as a loud laugh left her lips.

"I cannot believe you just said 'hot monkey love'." Avery smiled.

"Why not? You act like you have never heard that term before." They heard a soft knock on their door and Nicki smiled.

"That would be Tyler." She walked over and opened the door. Tyler smiled and she stepped out into the hall. He wrapped his arms around her waist and they kissed gently. "So, you weren't doing anything up there in your room?"

"Nope. Reid went out looking for a date for the dance and I was just messing around on my laptop."

"Not looking for another woman, I hope." Tyler looked at her with a disbelieving smile.

"I can barely handle you, why would I be looking for someone else?" Avery walked out into the hall and rolled her eyes. She locked the door as she closed it.

"I'm sorry to interrupt this sickening show of love here, but um, my date might be waiting on us in town. Can we leave before you two start talking in baby talk, please?"

"I'm sorry... just because you have 'rebound boy', doesn't mean you should be all bitter, Ave." Avery smirked and walked down the hall.

"Who's 'rebound boy'?" Nicki looked at Tyler as she grabbed his hand. They began following Avery down the hall to the stairwell door.

"Braedon is 'rebound boy'. There is no way that he is going to be around too long... least I don't think so." Tyler laughed softly.

"How's that? I thought they were getting along pretty well."

"They are, but like I said... she just broke up with Reid like less than a week ago... rebounds don't generally last. So, as much as you and Reid are getting to know him, don't get to used to him being around."

"Would you two please stop talking about Braedon like he's disposable?!" Avery yelled as she opened the heavy steel door. Nicki and Tyler laughed as they all walked down the stairs.

* * *

Reid and Erin walked into Royals and he smiled. He looked around as they found a small table for two and made their way over to it. Erin shrugged off her coat and hung it over the back of her chair. She sat down and Reid took off his coat. He hung his coat over the back of the chair and sat down. She smiled softly at Reid as he looked at her across the table.

"What's the real reason you asked me to the dance?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not a fool Reid. I may be young, but I am fairly certain that you can have any other girl around school that you want. Why me?"

"Truth be told. After the website thing last year, most girls avoid me like the plague. I took a chance... besides, you are beautiful and you shouldn't..." He saw Avery, Nicki and Tyler walk in over her shoulder and his thought flew out of his head. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and looked over as Braedon stood up and walked over to Avery. Reid cleared his throat and looked back at Erin. "You shouldn't have to either stay in the dorm or go to the dance by yourself." She turned to see what he was looking at over her shoulder. She smiled and patted his hand as she turned back around to face him.

"Why don't you ask Avery if she'll go with you?" Reid chuckled and looked down at the table.

"Am I that transparent?"

"Just a bit. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind. I am flattered that you want to go with me to the dance..." Reid looked up into her green eyes.

"Are you trying to let me down easily?" He raised an eyebrow as she smiled.

"No, no, nothing like that. I'm just trying to offer my two cents on this whole thing. Though, we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Reid smiled.

"No, no, I would like to hear your thoughts on it. Seems no girl has really had an interest beyond asking why Ave and I broke up or snickering at her or me in the halls."

"I don't really care why the two of you broke up, it's not my business, but I can tell you really like her... love her even." Reid nodded.

"I do love her."

"Then why does it seem you have given up trying to get her back? Why are you moving on?"

"I'm not. I'm... at a loss at the moment of what I can do to get her back."

"Have you given her some space?"

"About as much as I can. We're lab partners in Chemistry. We've been working on a project." Erin nodded. She touched his hand and smiled.

"Well, then, let's see what the two of us can come up with." Reid smiled as looked at her.

* * *

A/N: See there, Erin isn't all that bad, now is she? :) You can find links to the dresses in this fic on my profile! Please review!


	10. Dilemma

**A/N:** Back so soon... I have a couple chapters already writeen, so updates should be fairly quick if I'm not too busy. :) Again, thanks for the reviews! Keep reviewing people, I like the feedback. Oh, sorry this is a short chappie.

**Disclaimer:** I only own original characters and places.

* * *

Avery, Braedon, Nicki and Tyler sat at a table and Avery grabbed the little menu sitting in the middle of the table. She looked through the different items and decided on what she wanted.

"How did dress shopping go today?" Tyler asked.

"Fine. We got them," Nicki said.

"Color of yours?"

"White." Braedon looked at Avery and smiled.

"What color is yours?" he asked.

"Black."

"Should I get you a corsage or something for this?" Avery nodded and laughed softly.

"Yeah, it would be nice if you did." Nicki hit Tyler in the shoulder and smiled.

"That goes for you too," she said as he looked at her.

"I had already planned on getting you one." Tyler looked around and saw Reid and Erin. "Who the heck is Reid here with?" he asked before he could stop himself. He raised his eyebrows as his eyes shot to where Avery was sitting. Avery turned around quickly and saw Reid laughing with the red haired girl across the building. She turned back around and looked at the table unable to move or say anything for a moment. Nicki looked over at her.

"You okay, Ave?" she asked. _That_ snapped Avery out of her thoughts.

"Um, yeah. I'm gonna go to the ladies room." Avery got up. Nicki's eyes followed her every move. She looked at Tyler as Avery quickly walked away from the table.

"I'll be right back."

"Something wrong?" Nicki stood up.

"No, don't you know that we women always go to the bathroom in pairs?" She smiled and walked away.

* * *

Nicki walked into the ladies room and saw Avery leaning against the wall trying not to let tears fall from her eyes. She closed the door behind her and walked over to her best friend. She stood next to her and sighed.

"You're so not okay. What's going on, Ave?" Nicki asked as she looked at her friend.

"I dunno. I knew he would move on... I just didn't expect that when he did I would feel like this." A single tear fell from her eye and over her cheek.

"You seemed to have moved on. Don't you think that he may be feeling the same way, Ave?" Nicki shook her head. "I cannot believe I am playing devil's advocate for Reid Garwin. There must be a fucking snowstorm in Hell right now." Avery laughed a little.

"I don't know how he is feeling to be totally honest... least not right now, in this moment. All I know is, I felt like someone stabbed me in the heart when I saw him laughing with that girl." Nicki put her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Ave, if you want him, go tell him. Don't put yourself through this. It's not worth it." Avery looked over at her friend.

"He didn't have sex with Kiana, Nic."

"How do you know that?"

"He told me." Nicki looked skeptical.

"Do you believe him?"

"Yeah, actually I do. Something inside me says that he wouldn't lie about that just to try and get me back."

"So, why are you going about this farce with Braedon?"

"It's not a farce. He's a nice guy and I do like him... just not in a romantic kind of way."

"Don't you think maybe you should tell _him_ that?"

"I don't want to hurt him, besides, I figured that I would tell him something after the dance on Saturday."

"That's not remotely heartless or anything, Ave." Nicki rolled her eyes.

"Nic, leave me alone. I know what I'm doing."

"Are you sure?" Avery sighed as she stood up from the wall. She walked over to the mirror over the sink and looked at herself as the door to the ladies room opened. She saw the redhead that Reid was with, walk in. The girl smiled first at Nicki then at Avery.

"You're Avery Butler, right?" she asked and Avery noted how beautiful her accent was. She smiled a little at how much it reminded her of her father.

"Yeah... how do you know that?"

"I've seen you around school. You used to date Reid Garwin, right?" Avery nodded as she turned from the mirror.

"Yeah, I did."

"He seems like a really sweet guy..." She walked over to one of the bathroom stalls and smiled a little as she opened the door. "And he is obviously still in love with you." She walked in and closed the door. Avery and Nicki looked at eachother with the same question going through their minds, 'What the fuck?' They walked out of the bathroom and made their way back over to the table where Braedon and Tyler sat.

"Everything okay?" Braedon asked as they sat down.

"Yeah. Everything's fine," Avery said as she sat down and looked over at Reid. He smiled a little when their eyes met and she couldn't help but smile back at him. Erin walked over and sat across from him. She looked over at Avery before leaning closely to Reid. She whispered something in his ear and he smiled. He got up and walked to the brand new jukebox that stood in the corner. He looked through the artists and titles before dropping a couple coins in the slot. Avery turned around to face her friends as he pushed a couple buttons on the machine and music started.

"So, are all the dances at Spenser formal?" Braedon asked. Avery, Nicki and Tyler all nodded.

"Yeah. Seems like every month or every other month there's a new one. There's Fall Fest, Harvest Ball, Winter Formal, Spring Ball, and then the prom," Tyler said with a smile. "Seems so much money goes to the girls buying dresses, shoes, jewelry and for us guys to buy the flowers that match."

"So, how does..." Braedon stopped in mid-sentence when he saw Reid walk up and put his hand on Avery's shoulder. She looked up and Reid smiled.

"Wanna dance?" he asked softly. Avery looked at Braedon.

"You don't mind, do you?" she asked him.

"No, go 'head." He smiled as she got up and they walked away.

* * *

Reid slowly put his hands on Avery's waist as her arms rested on his shoulders. He smiled at the feel of her in his arms again.

"Are you sure your date isn't going to mind you dancing with me?" she leaned in and whispered in his ear. He looked over to Erin who was smiling.

"No." He looked back at Avery and smiled. "It was her idea." Avery looked over his shoulder at the young girl and smiled. Erin nodded and smiled back at her. Avery looked back at Reid and he smiled as his hands moved around to her back. He pulled her closer to him and she laid her head on his shoulder. Reid inhaled her perfume deeply and smiled softly. He looked over at Tyler, Nicki and Braedon and Nicki smiled at him. "Are you sure you don't want to go to the dance with me?" Reid asked suddenly. Avery looked at him.

"I... I can't Reid. I already have another date. It wouldn't be right." He sighed softly.

"So... if he wasn't in the picture, you would say yes?" Avery laughed softly.

"I didn't say that now did I?"

"No, but you _implied_ it."

"I did no such thing." He smiled and his blue eyes took on a mischievous look.

"Yeah you did. You said, and I quote... 'I can't. I already have another date.' That implies that if you had no date you would go with me." Avery rolled her eyes as she looked away from him.

"Okay, then let me rephrase... I _won't_ go to the dance with you, whether I have a date or not. Is that better?" She looked back at him with a small smile on her face.

"Phrasing, yes... answer, no." She snickered as he reached up and touched her cheek. They stopped dancing among the few other couples. "I do love you Ave." She smiled.

"I know, Reid." As he leaned in a little, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Braedon standing behind him.

"Excuse me, friend. Do you mind if I cut in?" Braedon asked sounding slightly angry.

"Actually, yeah I do." Braedon grabbed Reid's collar and tried to pull him away from Avery.

"I think you and I should go settle this outside." Tyler walked up and stood behind Reid. Reid let go of Avery and got in Braedon's face.

"If that's what you want to do, then let's go." They all began making their way to the doors. Nicki got up and she and Avery walked to the three boys.

"What's going on?" Nicki asked.

"It's fine. Just a disagreement between guys," Tyler said. "Stay here. We'll be back in a bit." Nicki nodded as Tyler quickly kissed her cheek. They walked outside and Nicki and Avery walked over to their table.

"I knew something like this was going to happen at some point," Avery said as she put her head in her hand.

"Kinda exciting that you have guys fighting over you, don'tcha think?" Nicki asked with a smile.

"No, it's ridiculous is what it is." She sighed as she sat back in her chair.

* * *

A/N: Ah, the manly show of domination... Wonder what's gonna happen next...


	11. Let Me Tell You A Little Secret

**A/N:** Hopefully this isn't too predictable... :) Thanks for the reviews of the last chapter. Cara Mascara had the most priceless one of them all. :) Please keep reviewing. :)

**Disclaimer:** I only own original characters.

* * *

Braedon followed Tyler and Reid out to the alley behind the building. Tyler looked around and saw nobody hanging out or passing by.

"What the hell did you think you were doing in there, Garwin?" Braedon asked as he pushed the sleeves of his shirt up.

"Dancing with my soon-to-be-again girlfriend. You can't believe that she actually wants to be with you." Reid smirked as only he could.

"And why wouldn't she?"

"I don't know too much about you, but from what I do know, you aren't all that interesting. I am... I keep her on her toes..." Braedon's eyes narrowed on Reid.

"Yeah, you keep her on her toes by fucking around behind her back... How could you do something like that? She's beautiful, smart_ and _sexy as hell. Do you think it was worth it to let her go because you couldn't keep it in your pants?" Reid felt his rage boiling up inside him and he pulled back to hit the smirking boy in front of him. Braedon's eyes quickly flashed black and both Tyler and Reid stopped dead in their tracks.

"What the fuck?" Tyler breathed.

"Who are you?" Reid asked as he lowered his hand.

"Why does it matter?" Reid and Tyler were thrown to the ground by an invisible force. Braedon grinned and walked over to them as they laid on the ground groaning. He squatted next to Reid and looked at him.

"I knew something was off with you. I just couldn't figure out what the hell it was," Reid said as he looked up at Braedon's smiling face.

"Off? Is that what you and your friends call it?" Tyler sat up slowly.

"How... How do you know about us?" he asked.

"Do you four really think that you are the only ones in the world with the Power? Families scattered to the winds when they were found out. Not just here, all over Europe, Asia... Anywhere they could find refuge, they did."

"What?" Reid sat up slowly and looked at Braedon with shock evident in his eyes.

"I don't want to hurt you, but if I have to, I will. Believe me... it wouldn't be the first time I've had to defend myself, it sure as hell won't be the last." His eyes flashed back to the bright blue they normally were.

"Where...," Tyler managed to squeak out. Braedon looked up at him.

"What?"

"Where did you come from?" Braedon exhaled loudly as he stood up.

"Why does it matter?" Reid and Tyler slowly got to their feet.

"So, it's been you we've been feeling using all this time?" Braedon's eyebrows furrowed as he looked the brown haired boy.

"No. I can't and won't take credit for that. I thought it was one of you or your little group." Reid and Tyler looked at eachother.

"I think we need to let Caleb know what's going on," Reid said slowly.

"That's fine as long as you don't mention me," Braedon said.

"Why shouldn't we? Caleb and Pogue would be thrilled to know that there are others out there like us."

"Maybe, but I don't really care to become friends with all of you. I didn't come to Ipswich for you... for any of you." Tyler's eyes narrowed as he looked over at Braedon.

"Then what did you come here for?"

"That... is none of your damned business." Tyler quickly blushed deep scarlet. "I suggest that we all go in there and pretend like we made nice out here and we'll just keep our conversation to ourselves. Understand?" Reid and Tyler nodded in silence. They all walked back into the building. Tyler and Braedon walked over to Nicki and Avery while Reid made his way over to Erin.

* * *

Tyler and Reid walked into their dorm room in an agitated state. Tyler took off his coat and sweatjacket. He threw they haphazardly onto his desk as he looked at Reid.

"What the hell is going on here?" he asked as he sat on his bed.

"I dunno. First Chase, now this. Something ain't stirring the Kool-Aid." Reid took off his coat and beenie and tossed them on the floor, as he usually did. He sat in his desk chair and sighed.

"I think we need to tell Caleb about this." Reid nodded silently as Tyler grabbed his cellphone from his jeans pocket. He dialed and put the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" Caleb breathed into the phone.

"Are you busy?" Tyler asked.

"Um, a bit."

"Caleb, hang up the phone..." Tyler heard Sarah's voice in the background.

"I will, just a sec." Caleb sighed into the phone. "Is this important?"

"Um, yeah... we may have found out who's been using."

"Who?" Caleb's voice suddenly perked up.

"Well, I don't want to say over the phone. Can we meet at the colony house?"

"Yeah, I'll call Pogue and we'll meet you and Reid there in a half hour." Tyler could hear Sarah sigh loudly in the background.

"I really am sorry about bothering you while..."

"Yeah, don't worry about it. I'll see you in a few."

"Yeah." Tyler closed his phone and looked at Reid.

"What'd he say?" Reid asked as he leaned forward in his chair.

"Meeting in thirty minutes." They grabbed their coats and walked out of the room.

* * *

Caleb looked up as Reid and Tyler walked down the stone stairs. They walked over and looked from Pogue to Caleb before sitting on the stone seats.

"So, who is it? You or Reid?" Pogue asked as he folded his hands in front of himself. Both Reid and Tyler looked up in disbelief.

"It's neither of us," Tyler said. "There's a guy in town... he's dating Ave." Reid sighed deeply as he looked up at Caleb.

"His name's Braedon Gilbert." Caleb sat back and eyed Reid.

"And how did you and Tyler come by this information?"

"He fucking told us tonight." Pogue shook his head slightly as he looked at Reid.

"And why would he do that?" he asked as Reid looked over at him.

"We were about to get into a f... wait, are you saying that you don't believe me?" Reid sat back as he eyed Pogue.

"I didn't say that. I asked a simple question."

"Yeah, but your body language says something completely different. Why the hell would Tyler and I make this up?"

"Why wouldn't you?" Reid got up.

"You know what... fuck you Pogue." Reid stormed off up the stairs. Caleb looked at Pogue and sighed.

"Was that necessary?" he asked as he ran his hand over his face.

"What? We're supposed to believe that there is someone else out there that has Power?" Tyler looked up and sighed.

"It's like I said, why should the four of us believe that we are the only ones that have the Power? That's ignorance, plain and simple," he said in a soft voice.

"So, what was Braedon's explanation of it?" Caleb asked.

"He said that families scattered all over when they were found out. Not just to America, but all over Europe, Asia... we aren't the only ones out there. Why is that so hard to believe? Because our families, for generations, have had us living in this little bubble? Again, that is plain ignorance." Tyler stood up and sighed. "Face it, our five families were not the only ones that had the Power to begin with. There are other families out there." Pogue looked at his hands.

"Four families...," Pogue said as Tyler looked at him and narrowed his eyes.

"No matter what John Putnam did... there were _five_ families that settled this colony. Five families that escaped the same persecution. Our families may want to paint the picture differently because of what he did, but the fact... the _truth_ remains... there were five of us." He turned to leave. "Believe us or not... I don't really give a crap." He quickly ran up the stairs and Caleb looked at Pogue.

"What do you think?" Pogue asked quietly.

"I think it's worth looking into. Why would they come in here with some elaborate story like that to cover up using? Besides, Tyler would never lie to me... he doesn't have the balls." Pogue sighed.

* * *

A/N: I hope to have another chappie up tomorrow sometime. Keep reviewing... please. :)


	12. LoJac?

**A/N:** My internet is acting funky, so since I promised, I thought I'd better get this chapter up while it was stable. Glad to see you guys enjoyed the last chapter. No, Braedon isn't Chase... he is a person all on his own... the thought that he seemed so much like Chase struck me as I was writing him as well. He just worked as a brown noser for the girls and an ass to the guys. Thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter. Again, I appreciate them all. :) As always, keep reviewing!!

**Disclaimer:** I only own original characters and places, though I wish I owned Starbucks... I would be friggin' rich. ;)

* * *

Avery walked into the Chem lab and saw Reid looking at his papers intently. She walked over and set her things next to him. He looked up at her a little startled. She smiled softly.

"You okay?" she asked as she put her hand on his shoulder. He sighed softly.

"Yeah. Just had an argument with Pogue about something last night. How are you doing?" She grabbed a labcoat and slipped it on over her uniform.

"I'm doing fine." She squinted as she looked at him. "I'm a little nervous about this project though. We have like..." She looked up to the clock that hung on the wall behind them. "Two hours to get this figured out." Reid smiled.

"We'll get it figured out, Ave. Don't worry. I promise. You are not going to fail... _we_ are not going to fail this." She smiled a little and he held up his papers. "I think I may have figured this out."

"Really?" He nodded.

"Yeah." She looked down to the papers and he began explaining what he had written on them from their past experiments. She looked up at him.

"I am impressed, Garwin." She smiled as his name left her lips.

"Why's that?"

"You really put some time in on this. I would have never thought you would do this much work." He grinned.

"I didn't really have much choice." He grabbed a labcoat and slipped it on. "You ready to try this again?"

"Yeah, let's do it." They walked over to the shelf with beakers and various chemicals.

After three failed experiments, the final one gave them the desired outcome.

"Yes!!" Avery exclaimed as she threw her hands in the air. Reid smiled and began laughing softly to himself. Avery squealed happily and jumped into his arms. Their smiles slowly faded as they looked at eachother. Reid smiled softly as he leaned closer to her. Avery put her hand on his cheek and softly kissed him. He held her close as he eased his tongue into her mouth to massage hers. She moaned into his mouth as he tangled his fingers in her hair. She looked at him and smiled before clearing her throat.

"Reid, we can't do this... not here." He grinned.

"Well, we can always go back to my room. Tyler's working on a paper for his history class in the library."

"Can you calm your hormones for a minute, please?" He sighed as he pulled away from her.

"Alright, alright. I'll behave. I won't like it, but I'll do it." Avery laughed as she grabbed the stack of papers. She handed them to Reid and he looked them over.

"Document. Now. We have..." Avery looked up at the clock. "Thirty minutes to get this onto Dodson's desk." He walked over to the table and grabbed a pen from his bag. He quickly made some notes and smiled as he re-capped his pen.

"Done. We have finished this experiment." Avery smiled as she slipped off her labcoat.

"Great. Um... I have to get going."

"Where are you off to so fast?"

"I kinda have a date."

"There is no kinda. Either you have one or you don't," Reid said with a small laugh.

"Okay, I have a date. I have to get ready. Do you mind finishing up?"

"No. Go 'head." Sadness came over his eyes as she packed up her bag and walked out of the lab. He sighed as he gathered up all the papers and put them in order. He slipped them in the large manila envelope that sat in front of him. He slipped the papers in and wrote Avery's name along with his own on the front. He sat looking at the names together for a long moment before the opening of the door caught his attention. He looked up at the janitor in the doorway.

"I'm sorry. I can come back if you're not done," the short balding man said with a gentle smile on his face. Reid grabbed his things and smiled a little.

"No, I'm finished." He walked passed the man and off to Mr. Dodson's office to turn in the envelope full of papers.

* * *

The next morning, Avery and Nicki sat on their beds combing their hair. Nicki grabbed her hair and braided it into a thick French braid that hung down her back. She looked over at Avery and smiled a little.

"You're awfully quiet this morning," she said as she grabbed a cloth covered ponytail holder from her nightstand. Avery looked up at her as he set her brush beside her.

"Just have some stuff on my mind." She grabbed the small make-up mirror and bag from her nightstand and began applying some make-up.

"Wanna talk about it?" Avery shook her head slightly as she held an eyeliner pencil near her left eye.

"No. Thanks though, Nic." They smiled. A soft knock drifted through the room and the girls looked at eachother. "You expecting someone?"

"No." Avery got up and walked over to the door. She opened it a crack and Tyler smiled with Reid behind him. She smiled and opened the door a little more.

"Well, this is quite a surprise." The boys walked into the room and Nicki smiled as she stood up from her bed.

"What are you guys doing here?" Nicki asked as she hugged Tyler tightly.

"Well, we thought we would treat you and Ave to some Starbucks. If you guys want to go out," Tyler said as he raised his eyebrow.

"Sounds good to me," Nicki said as she pulled away from him and grabbed her shoes. Reid watched as Avery sat at her desk.

"What about you, love?" he asked. Avery looked up at him and smiled.

"Um, sure, sounds better than the dining hall." She grabbed her shoes and slipped them on her feet before getting up. She grabbed her coat and slipped it on. Nicki did the same and they four walked out of the small room.

* * *

Avery and Nicki sat in two comfortable chairs, sipping on their usual Starbucks drinks and nibbling on coffee cake and a bagel. Avery cringed as she saw Braedon walk into the building. Nicki saw her body language and followed her eyeline to the door.

"I swear... this guy must have a Lo-Jac installed in your ass, Ave. How does he know to just show up wherever the hell we go?"

"Fuck if I know. This is _so_ going to end up being a problem. I just know it." Avery put her head back on the chair as Tyler, Reid and Braedon all walked up to the two girls at the same time. Reid and Tyler glared at Braedon as he looked down at Avery.

"Hey, Beautiful," he said softly as he crouched beside the chair she sat in. She looked at him and smiled weakly.

"Hey. What are you doing here?"

"Uh, morning fix of Starbucks." He smiled and looked up at Nicki, Tyler and Reid. "Am I interrupting something?" Reid stepped forward a little.

"As a matter of fact, you are," he said as Braedon stood up. They took a step toward eachother and Avery jumped up between them.

"C'mon guys. This really isn't the time or the place for a manly show of force. Calm the fuck down and relax. This place is big enough for all of us to enjoy our drinks," she said as she put a hand over Reid's heart. He looked down and then up into her pleading green eyes.

"Alright," Reid said as he sat at the across from the chairs. Tyler joined him and Avery sat down. Braedon smiled smugly and looked at Avery.

"I'm gonna go get something. Wanna join me?" he asked Avery.

"Um, no, go ahead. I'm gonna stay here and talk to my friends." She smiled as sweetly as she could muster under the circumstances.

"Alright." He smiled and walked away to the counter. Avery looked over at Tyler and Reid who were deep in conversation then at Nicki.

"You okay, Ave?" she asked as she took her mouth from her straw.

"Yeah, he's just really starting to creep me out." Nicki leaned over closer to her. "We aren't even a couple, but it's like he thinks we are. He calls at 'just the right time' to go out and he just happens to show up here out of the blue? What are the coincidences of that? There are like two other Starbucks in town." They looked over at Braedon as he walked to the counter then at Reid and Tyler. Avery smiled. "What are you two plotting over there?" Reid smiled as he looked over at her.

"Why do you think we are plotting something?" he asked as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Because I know the look on your face, Garwin." He laughed gently at the sound of his last name leaving her lips.

"It's nothing... really." Avery raised her chin as she smirked.

"Yeah, I'll believe you when there are pigs flying through the sky without the benefit of a jet pack, plane or something else of that sort." He laughed softly. Nicki looked from one to the other then at Tyler who seemed to share the same thought, 'Are they flirting?' They smiled at eachother and Tyler looked back to Reid. He leaned closely to the blonde and whispered in his ear.

"Should I go call Caleb and Pogue?" he asked. Reid looked at him.

"No, Braedon'll be with Ave at the dance tonight, Caleb and Pogue'll be there. We'll deal with it then."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, why cause a big scene here?" Tyler sat back and nodded.

* * *

A/N: Hopefully I'll be back soon with another chapter. :) Don't let that stop you from reviewing though. ;)


	13. Snowflakes & Snowdrops

**A/N:** Just a really short chapter here. :) Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter. :)

**Disclaimer:** I only own original characters.

* * *

Nicki stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom making sure her hair and make-up was perfect before Tyler showed up. Avery sat on her bed fastening the strap of her heel. She looked over at Nicki and smiled.

"You look fine, Nic," she said as Nicki turned from the mirror.

"You sure? I want this to be perfect."

"How much more perfect can it get? You have the dream guy, the killer dress and me for a best friend." Nicki smiled as she rolled her eyes.

"You're meeting Braedon in front of the hall, right?" Avery sighed as she sat up straight.

"Yeah." A soft knock drifted through their room and Nicki smiled. "I suppose that would be Tyler."

"I think so." Nicki walked over and opened the door. Tyler looked up and smiled at the sight of his date for the evening. "Come in." Nicki stepped back slightly to let him walk into the room.

"You look beautiful," he said as he kissed her cheek gently. He looked at Avery as she stood up and smoothed her dress. "You look beautiful as well, Ave." Avery smiled.

"Thanks Ty." Tyler looked back to Nicki and set down the box holding her corsage on her desk. He pulled a small box from the pocket of his suit jacket and looked at Nicki. She smiled as he held it out to her.

"Merry Christmas," he said softly as she took the box. She untied the white silk ribbon that encircled the red velvet box. She opened it and smiled at the necklace inside. She looked up at Tyler and he smiled. "It's white gold and white sapphires... I hope you like it."

"I do. It's beautiful." She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. She kissed his cheek and took the necklace from the box. She handed it to him and turned as Avery looked on. Tyler put the snowflake necklace around her neck.

"That is beautiful Tyler," Avery said as she walked over to get a better look at it.

"Thanks. Sloan's father is a jeweler. He made it for me... 'specially for you Nic." She turned and planted her lips on his in a quick kiss. He smiled as he grabbed the box from the desk. He opened it and pulled out a wrist corsage.

"What kind of flowers are those?" Nicki asked as her eyebrows furrowed in curiosity.

"Um, white roses and snowdrops," Tyler said as he slipped it on her wrist. "I thought it would go well with the whole snowy kind of theme you have going here." He smiled as Nicki grabbed her wrap and slipped her small bag around her other wrist.

"It's perfect." She smiled as she put her wrap on. She looked at Avery and smiled. "We'll see you in a bit, I guess?" Avery nodded.

"Yeah. I just need to check my make-up and I'm on my way."

"Alright... don't be late." Avery smirked at her friends.

"_Never_." They all smiled and Tyler and Nicki left. Avery sighed softly and went into the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror. "I would so rather be going to this thing with anyone else at this moment." She sighed again and flipped off the light before gathering up her things and leaving.

* * *

As she walked across the campus, Avery held her wrap closed tightly against herself to combat the wintry chill in the air. Snow hadn't yet made its appearance yet and she was thankful for that. As she got closer to the building, she saw Braedon coming into view. She looked down at her feet. Her black heels clicked on the cement as she found herself slowing to get to the building. She stopped in front of Braedon who was smiling brightly.

"You look exquisite, then again, you usually do," he said as they hugged. Avery smiled.

"Thanks." He opened the box in his hand and pulled out a wrist corsage of white roses and bleeding heart. Avery held out her wrist and he slipped it on. "It's beautiful."

"I was hoping you would like it."

"I do." He gently took her hand and they walked into the music filled hall. Her eyes scanned the large room until they landed on Tyler, Nicki, Reid and his date sitting at a large round table. "I see my friends." Braedon looked over at her and forced a smile.

"Alright." They walked down the carpeted staircase and across the room. Reid's eyes drifted up to her face as Avery and Braedon made their way to the table. He smiled, despite himself and Erin looked at him. She leaned over close to his ear.

"I expect you to leave here tonight with her, Reid," she said softly. He looked at her with a questioning look in his blue eyes.

"What?"

"You heard me. You two belong together." Reid smiled and touched her hand. Braedon held out a chair for Avery and smiled. Avery sat down and scooted in as Braedon sat next to her. Reid glared at Braedon as he looked over at him. Braedon smirked and put his hand on Avery's. Tyler's eyes scanned the crowd and spotted Caleb walk in with Sarah. He leaned over towards Nicki.

"I'll be back in a minute. I need to talk to Caleb." He got up and Reid followed.

"I'll be back, Erin." She smiled and the two boys walked off.

* * *

A/N: You can find links to pictures of snowdrops and bleeding heart on my profile if you don't know what they look like. :) You'll also find a pic of a Black Beauty rose as well.


	14. Confrontation & Confession

**A/N:** Wow... sorry 'bout the short chapter last chapter. You all seemed a little out of sorts about it. :) Thanks for the reviews though. Again, I appreciate them all. Well, I was in a bit of a hurry when I posted earlier today, so I thought I would come back with something a little longer for all of you. Unfortunately, I only have one more chapter left and I am having a bit of a struggle with the way everything is flowing, so give me a couple, few days to get it figured out. :) Keep reviewing!

**Disclaimer:** I only own original characters.

* * *

Caleb looked up as both Tyler and Reid walked up to him with alarmed looks on their faces. He looked at Sarah who gave him a look of understanding and a small smile.

"I'll be right back... I promise," he said before kissing her softly on the cheek. She nodded as the three boys walked off to a somewhat secluded corner of the building. "What's going on?"

"Braedon's here with Ave. We thought maybe you and Pogue would want to talk to him," Tyler said in hushed tones.

"Is Pogue even here yet? You know how long it takes Kate to get ready for anything," Caleb said as he lifted his brown eyes to the steadily crowding room.

"I haven't seen him yet," Reid said as he turned and saw Avery laughing with Nicki, Erin and Braedon. "Do you really need him to talk to this guy?"

"No, but I think we should all be there, don't you?"

"I guess." Tyler looked over and saw Pogue and Kate walk into the hall.

"Why are you by yourself?" Kate asked Sarah as she spotted her by the door. Sarah exhaled softly and looked over to the small huddle in the corner.

"Tyler and Reid dragged Caleb away for a conversation." Pogue looked over and then at Kate.

"I'll be right back," he said as he kissed her cheek.

"Hurry back baby." He smiled gently at her before walking off.

Reid and Caleb looked up as Pogue joined their small group. Caleb sighed deeply as he looked at his friend's smiling face.

"What's going on?" Pogue asked as his smile slowly faded.

"Braedon's here," Tyler said. "He's with Ave." They all looked over and Braedon lifted his head to the four boys. He smirked as their eyes all met. They turned to eachother.

"Have you talked to him, Caleb?"

"No, we were waiting 'til you got here," Caleb said.

"Well, I'm here, let's go." The four boys slowly made their way through the crowd of kids and to the table. The girl's and Braedon's eyes all found their way to the small group of boys.

"Hey, Caleb, Pogue," Avery said with a smile. "This is Braedon. Braedon, Caleb Danvers and Pogue Parry." Braedon got up and smiled at the two boys.

"Nice to meet you," he said as a smirk played on his lips.

"You too," Caleb said softly. "Um, can we talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"Um, outside..." Braedon looked at Avery and smiled.

"I'll be right back." Avery nodded.

"Alright...," she said softly. He looked back to the four boys and they made their way out of the building.

* * *

Avery looked at Erin and smiled softly as she took in the young girl's appearance. She felt a small pang of jealousy pass through her heart as the girl smiled at her.

"So, where did you meet Reid?" she asked as she pulled her wrap off and laid it on the back of the chair she was sitting on.

"Um, we met last year in the library," Erin's soft southern lilt made Avery smile.

"What part of the South are you from?"

"Georgia."

"My father's from Atlanta." Erin smiled.

"I'm from around Savannah." Avery smiled and put her head in her hand.

"How long have you been seeing Reid?"

"I'm not actually." Nicki raised her eyebrow as she looked to the red-haired southern girl.

"You're not?" Nicki asked.

"No. He asked me to be his date to the dance. I was supposed to be going with Billy Thomas, _but_ he came down with the flu."

"So, you two are just friends?"

"Yeah, basically. So, what's the deal with you two anyway?" Her eyes drifted to Avery's.

"What do you mean?" Avery asked as she sat back against her chair.

"Exactly what I said. What is the deal with you and Reid? It's obvious that he loves you and from your body language, I would say the feeling is mutual..."

"Things happened..." Avery shrugged. "We're on different pages now..."

"Not really... Same page, just writing a different story. Can I give you some advice?" Avery smiled and nodded slowly.

"Give him another chance. He's a good guy underneath everything." Erin laughed.

"You are the first girl I have ever heard, besides me, that has had nothing but nice things to say about him, you know that?" The three of them laughed.

"Well, he's always been sweet to me. I've heard stories about his reputation, but I have never seen that."

"You're one of the lucky ones then," Nicki said with a small smile. Avery narrowed her eyes at Nicki who shrugged. "What? It's true."

"Nic, don't be that way about him. He never hit on you..."

"Does it matter? We're just discussing how bad his reputation is..."

"How did the conversation go from getting to know Erin to us discussing how bad Reid's rep is? Please explain that to me."

"Just natural progression of conversation, I guess." Nicki smiled as Erin laughed and Avery flipped the bird at Nicki.

* * *

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Braedon asked as he leaned against the wall. Caleb eyed him suspiciously.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Who do you think I am?" Braedon smirked.

"No need to play games here. We're all in the same boat."

"No, see, that's where you're wrong. _You_ four are in the same boat. What do you want from me?"

"Why are you here?"

"I'm not here for you if that's what you're worried about."

"Then why are you here?" Pogue asked.

"I'm here for Avery." Reid visibly bristled as the words left Braedon's lips.

"Avery?" Tyler asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Avery. I think she would be the perfect woman to eventually have my children. Keep my bloodline alive."

"So, all you want with her is to breed?" Reid asked.

"You make it sound so clinical... scientific even." Braedon stood up from the wall and looked at Reid. "She's beautiful, comes from a good family... she's ideal to spend the rest of my life with... don't you feel the same way about her, Reid?" Braedon raised his eyebrows as he eyed Reid.

"No, that's not why I love her." Braedon looked down at his watch and took a deep breath.

"Well, if that's all... I need to get back to my date."

"No, that's not all," Caleb began, "How the hell do you know about us?"

"You would be amazed at what you can find in the library or on the internet these days. It's hard to keep secrets in the age of the information super highway, even ones like the one you have... you should know that." Braedon narrowed his eyes as he looked at Caleb. "Why would you think you were the only ones with the Power? How arrogant is that?"

"We're not here to discuss us... we're here to discuss you." Braedon walked over and stood toe to toe with Caleb.

"I'm done talking to you. I'm not here for you, that's all you need to worry about..." He began walking away, but stopped and looked over his shoulder. "But if I was, you could bet that I wouldn't go down as easily as Chase did." He winked and walked away.

"What're we going to do?" Pogue asked as Caleb visibly paled.

"I dunno," Caleb said as he looked up at Pogue. "What can we do? We take him at his word that he's not here for us..."

"What about Ave?" Reid asked.

"What about her? It's not really our place to say or do anything as far as she's concerned." Tyler put his hand on Reid's shoulder.

"Look Reid... if you want her back, you have to get her back. This has nothing to do with us," he said gently as Reid looked over at him. Reid sighed softly.

"I guess you're right." Reid looked up at Caleb. "Are we done here?"

"Yeah," Caleb said. "Just keep your eyes open, guys and be on your guard..."

"Why? You said yourself that we should take him at his word," Tyler said.

"Because you never know what could happen." The three boys nodded and Caleb and Pogue went back into the building. Tyler began to walk to the building, but stopped when he realized Reid was not going along as well.

"Something wrong, man?" he asked as Reid leaned against the wall. He lifted his blue eyes to Tyler as he walked over and stood next to him.

"I need to tell you something, but it can't go passed this spot." Tyler exhaled softly.

"What is it?" Reid took a deep breath.

"The using... it's been me." Tyler's eyes widened as the words fell from Reid's lips.

"What? Why... Why did you lie to me? I thought I was your best friend, man."

"I know. I was going to tell you before now, but I... I didn't want you to be worried that I was getting out of control with it." Tyler looked down at the ground as he leaned back against the wall.

"What the hell have you been doing?"

"Visiting Ave in her dreams. Gave her flowers..." Tyler looked over with disbelief filling his bright blue eyes.

"You did all that to get her back?"

"Yeah. She wouldn't have much to do with me beyond Chem class... it was the only way I could think of to be with her... like before."

"Reid... if Caleb knew he would go through the roof."

"Yeah, I know, that's why you can't say anything."

"So, the flowers in her locker?"

"Me. Just a reminder of the dream she had the night before." Reid sighed as she slowly stood up from the wall and played with a string unraveling from his glove. "I want to be the kind of man that she needs... that she deserves and after the ball I just couldn't think of another way to get close to her again." Tyler layed his hand on Reid's shoulder with a gentle sigh.

"Alright... it stays between us." Reid smiled a little as Tyler stood up from the wall.

"I think we should get back in there before the girls get worried."

"I doubt Ave would be too terribly worried if I don't come back in a timely manner." Tyler looked up at the sky and smirked.

"I wouldn't necessarily say that, Reid." They smiled and walked back into the hall.

* * *

A/N: Well... so the truth finally comes out. I thought it was a bit romantic myself, but that's just me. :)


	15. Oxygen

**A/N:** Well, here it is... the final chapter. I have to say, I'm kinda sorry to see it come to an end. I appreciate all the reviews and alerts that you all did. This chapter is based on one of my favorite songs by New Found Glory. Hopefully you all will enjoy the way everything ends. I did. :)

**Disclaimer:** I only own original characters.

**Oxygen by New Found Glory**

Constantly connected to the total unexpected  
I'm a con, a stealer of hearts  
I only keep this facade  
To keep you on your toes  
I'll take a glance while you sleep at night  
Right from under your nose  
So don't leave me

Don't leave, don't leave me here  
I can't breathe without you  
Don't leave, don't leave me here  
I don't want to be without you  
I don't want to live without you  
I don't want to breathe without you (You're my oxygen)

It's hard to get rejected  
By the one you most expected to be by your side  
Your first thought being you should run and hide  
But I don't think you're to blame  
I've kept you on your toes  
I'll dream of you while I sleep at night  
So nobody will know  
So don't leave me

Don't leave, don't leave me here  
I can't breathe without you  
Don't leave, don't leave me here  
I don't want to be without you  
I don't want to live without you  
I don't want to breathe without you (You're my oxygen)

Oxygen

With me, is where you belong  
Right with me, is where you belong  
Right here (Right here)  
Right here (Don't leave me)

Don't leave, don't leave me here  
I can't breathe without you  
Don't leave, don't leave me  
Cause I can't live without you  
(So don't leave) Don't leave, don't leave me here  
I can't breathe without you  
Don't leave, don't leave me  
I don't want to breathe without you  
You're my oxygen  
I don't want to breathe without you  
You're my oxygen

Oxygen  
Oxygen  
Oxygen

* * *

Braedon walked into the hall and scanned the crowd of kids for Avery. He smiled as he saw her laughing with the two other girls at the table.

"Yep, perfect to keep my bloodline alive," he said softly to himself. He looked over to the door and was met by glares from both Caleb and Pogue. A smirked formed on his face and he slowly made his way down the stairs. He walked through the crowd and stopped at the table with a smile on his face. The three laughing girls looked up and Avery smiled weakly. "Do you want to dance, Ave?"

"Um," She quickly looked at both Erin and Nicki who in turn raised their eyebrows with expectant smiles on their faces. She looked back up at Braedon. "Sure." She got up and he offered his arm to her. She gently rested her hand on his arm and they made their way to the dancefloor.

Braedon slid his arms around Avery's waist as they made their way onto the semi-crowded dancefloor. She rested her arms on his shoulders and he smiled at her.

"I thought maybe after the dance was over we could go and get some coffee or ice cream or something," he said as he leaned a little closer to Avery.

"Okay." She looked over as Caleb and Sarah made their way onto the dancefloor. "Did your talk with Caleb and friends go well?"

"Yeah." Avery eyed him suspiciously.

"What did you guys all talk about?"

"Um..." Braedon exhaled slowly. "They just wanted to know my intentions with you. You have some very protective friends there, Ave." They smiled and Avery looked over to the table where Reid sat with Erin huddled in conversation.

"I guess that happens when you have been friends as long as we all have been." Reid looked over at Avery then at Erin.

"You're really sure about this?" he asked.

"Yeah. Positive. Reid, you and I are better suited as friends... I'm not your type, you aren't mine... besides, there's a guy over there from another school who seems to have lost his date. I thought I might take her place." She grinned at Reid as he smiled.

"And how do you suppose I get her away from Braedon?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something. From what I have heard and know about you, you do seem to be one that can think quickly on his feet, Reid Garwin." She smiled softly as she put her hand on his. He looked up and over at Avery. Avery smiled at him quickly before Braedon spun her around on the dancefloor and got them lost among the other couples dancing. "I'm gonna go get some punch, do you want anything?"

"No. Thanks Erin... for everything." She smiled sweetly and got up. She softly kissed his cheek before walking away and getting lost in the crowd of kids at the food and drink tables.

* * *

Braedon smiled as he looked into Avery's eyes. She smiled softly as she looked at him. He slowly leaned his head toward her to kiss her, but she put her hand on his chest and backed away slightly. Confusion filled his face as they stopped dancing. Avery took a deep breath and looked down at the floor.

"Um... I think we should talk," she said softly as she looked back up to him.

"Is something wrong?"

"I think we should go talk somewhere where the entire student body isn't in on the conversation, don't you?" He nodded slowly.

"Yeah, okay." Braedon followed Avery across the building and up the carpeted staircase. They walked to a hallway off the main room and she sighed deeply. "What's going on, Ave?"

"Braedon, I don't know how to say what I'm thinking without hurting you." She looked up at him as he shuffled from one foot to the other.

"Just say it, Ave." She took a deep breath.

"Idon'tfeelforyouthewayyoufeelforme. Ithinkyouareagreatguy,justnottheoneforme," she said quickly before she lost her nerve.

"Wait... what? You were talking so fast, I didn't catch a word you just said." Avery sighed gently.

"I don't feel for you the way you feel for me." Her eyes drifted up to his as she spoke at a slower pace. "I think you're a really great guy, Braedon, but... I don't think you are the perfect one for me."

"Was it something I did... I didn't do?"

"No, no. Nothing like that. I think it's that you and I have a lot in common... a little too much, really. I'm kinda beginning to feel like I am dating myself here." He narrowed his eyes as he cocked his head to the side.

"I thought having things in common was a good thing."

"It is, but you are like a male version of me. I don't really want that. I want someone that will make life interesting... unpredictable..."

"It's Garwin, isn't it?" Braedon cut her off before she could continue. Avery nibbled her bottom lip.

"I'd be lying if I said that he didn't factor at all in my decision." She smiled softly and shrugged. "I can't help it... I love him Braedon." He exhaled and looked at the floor.

"I wish you would give me more of a chance, but it's obvious I can't change your mind." He looked up at her with sadness clear in his eyes. He hugged her gently. "You are one hell of a woman, Ave."

"Thank you for taking this so well." They looked at eachother as they pulled apart. Smiles slowly appeared on their faces.

"Think maybe I can find a girl in there that has lost her date?" He smiled a little.

"It wouldn't be impossible."

"I guess I'll see you inside then." Avery nodded and watched as he walked out of the hall and through the door. She took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling.

"That went way better than I thought it would. Well, now I have no date. Good move... Maybe I should have waited until after the dance to have this conversation." She laughed to herself and gathered up her dress. She walked down the hallway and into the hall.

* * *

Avery walked slowly along the walkway to the staircase. She looked down at the black heels strapped to her feet as she stopped at the top of the stairs. She looked out over the crowd of kids dancing, laughing, eating and having a good time with a smile on her face. She slowly began walking down the stairs. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Reid walking over with a smile on his face. She smiled as a feeling of deja vu ran through her. She heard the sound of her heels loudly in her ears as she stepped from the carpeted stairs to the marble floor. Reid stopped in front of her and held out a Black Beauty rose. She cocked her head slightly to the right as she took the flower from him.

"How...?" she asked softly. He leaned close to her ear.

"There's not a whole hell of a lot that I don't know about you, Ave." He looked at her and smiled. He held out his hand as soft music drifted through the hall. "May I have this dance?" Avery smiled as she took his hand.

"Yes." They walked over to the dancefloor and he wrapped his arms gently around her waist. She layed her head on his shoulder and smiled. "This is just like a dream," she said as her eyes slid closed. He smiled.

"Don't you remember, I told you... You can do anything in your dreams." She raised her head and looked at him.

"Reid... How...?"

"I have some secrets... But, I promise that I will tell you everything... later. _However_, until then..." He smiled and looked up at the ceiling. Red and white rose petals gently fluttered down over the couples spinning around the dancefloor. Avery looked up and smiled as the petals drifted over her cheeks. She looked at Reid and he touched her cheek softly. He slowly leaned toward her and gently captured her lips with his. He pulled back and looked at her. "I don't want to be without you, Ave. I need you. You belong with me... you always have." A smile slowly spread across Avery's face. "I love you, Ave."

"I love you too, Reid." He smiled as she pulled his face closer to hers and kissed him with an urgency that she hadn't felt before. She looked up into his blue eyes and smiled. "I love you, too."

* * *

A/N: Until next time...


End file.
